9. Moving is a pain

5 days on since my last post both Lorni and I are not feeling too wonderful on top of our known problems it looks like we have been hit by a nasty little virus, in fact I honestly now believe that Lorni has had shingles as well, What I thought was just a small collection of insect bites has got really angry and reddened and caused her a lot of discomfort for over a week now, so the bottom line is we haven't managed to do too much, I listed some smaller items for sale and had no response for them mainly XJ900 bits, I told Lorni if things did;t sell for a cheap price then they will simply go into the bin. One of the things we did manage to achieve was to dismantle and the wall unit /  dresser that Lorni was given for a marriage present some 30 years ago, it was made of Pecan wood and dam it was heavy and awkward.

The picture above was taken after I had taken all the doors off and removed all the glass shelving and taken the drawers out, the top and bottom of the unit are separate but the top halve was still to big to go in the back of the car so I had to spend a couple of house dismantling it further outside the front door. The following day Lorni and I took the top half tot he tip then came back and managed to get the bottom half in the back of the car without any further use of hammers and screwdrivers, a big job done and by the place looks so different without that unit dominating the room. Next!!!

Just checked my lottery numbers and I didn't get one sodding number, my luck needs to change, Lorni is on her way home she has been on nights and yes she is working through so much pain I am so in awe of this woman, once she has  had a little rest she is going to visit a friend of hers who is also suffering with what they call "Endo" I can't pronounce or even spell the full name. Lorni is killing two birds with one stone here, visiting a friend and getting rid of some more stuff, all her craft gear is going in the car and being delivered it Michele to play with.. Over the next week my aim is to get rid of a load of my model planes they are going to be used by a scout group in Essex more on that later, I have also got to go to my race car with the truck as Steve is going to pull the engine to do that I have to move the trailer out a bit I am then going to follow him down to Swindon where the truck s going to live from now on that will be another problem sorted.

There are things that I will miss and some people of course but it's the colour changes of the seasons that I think I will miss the most, just recently Autumn has hit even though the sun keeps shining and some of the colours in my street alone are amazing..

Another decision I have made is about "friends" over the years I have made it my business to keep in touch with all my old friends stretching right back to my school days, College and even those friends I made in my RAF days right up to today and all my motorbike and Drag Racing friends, now with most of my older friends it seems that when I think about it it's always me that makes the effort to get in touch so I have decided that I wont do it anymore and if all these people value my friendship then they will have to make the effort to get in touch with me from now on I have given myself a year and then I will l delete those that never bother from Facebook and from my address book, Also on this note I mentioned in my last post what my ex said about being on the phone for too long with the kids that's why they don't bother picking up, even though I never talk to any of them for more than 10 minutes at a time, anyway I decided not to call them and see how long it takes for them to call me! well Steve rings me once or even twice a day and that hasn't changed but its been over a week now since I have spoken to my daughter KT and my son Phil a lot longer since I have heard from Dan, As far s the step kids are concerned Bet is living with us at the moment so no problem there and Chris rings when he remembers LOL, so far only Steve has passed the test from my own children, lets see how long it is before the others call???

8, Strange few days

Half way to or local park lives an old lady called Anne I have no idea what her last name is I always say hello she always speaks to me when she sees me we have the occasional chat when she is not busy, Anne is not a young lady she is probably the oldest person that I know but she is fiercely independent she works her allotment every day  and not only do I see her most mornings but also most afternoons when I am again walking Harry usually when she is on her 4 wheeled mobility scooter with her two little dogs in a tray under her feet. I don't know much more about her apart from her strong accent which she admits hails from her ancestry she is South African. I spoke to her 4 days ago but yesterday morning on my walk I noticed a council property maintenance van outside her house, they were emptying it I asked the question that I already knew the answer to? she died two days precious, I got  very emotional I wish I had gotten to know her better and of course I am going to miss her greatly she had become part of my weekly it not daily routine, RIP Anne I shed a tear for you and I will miss you.

Even though we have had good news about the house sale Lorni is still in a state bless her and at times I feel so bloody useless as there is nothing much I can do to help as regards the pain she is in, recently she hasn't been able to sleep because of some bug bites on her back or maybe it was shingles but it has dragged her down a bit so today after breakfast I sent back to bed for a rest, the day before yesterday Beth bough her some flowers,

Flowers always cheers Lorni up, this wonderful human being not only saved my life around 13 years ago but she has put up with with my bad habits and my spending problems and she is still there I love Lorni to bits even when she is screaming at me as she is no longer taking her Lithium which was prescribed for her when Beth was born for severe post natal depression, by not taking lithium Lorni is able to lose weight but the downside to it is she has yet to be able to control the emotions that used to be kept in check by the lithium, but she will get there. Also had a long chat with my ex last night after a text which she sent me informing me that an ex boyfriend of her sister Gill had suddenly passed away while in America. I get the feeling that life hasn't been too kind to Helen I really think she is lonely and frightened of the future I do hope she finds someone to share her life with and to take away so many demons that she has bottled up. One f the things we talked about was my daughter not picking the phone up when I ring her, Helen then came out with,well you do keep people on the phone for 40 minutes or more, hmm now this is not true I hardly ever chat to my kids for more than ten minutes so I was a little taken aback by this if not a little upset and even angry so thinking about it I phone KT three times a week and she is always on her way somewhere or doing something so I never get to chat to her for long, I hear from Philip maybe once a month and Danny hardly ever, Stave phones me at least once a day LOL so I am going to conduct an experiment I am not going to phone any of the kids at all and lets see how long it takes for them to phone me!

In the meantime I have got my fingers crossed that this time the house sale goes through with no more hiccups or problems as I don' think either Lorni or myself can take much more of this LOL, oh before I forget Beth's dad, yes him sent her a card three days late, that just about sums him up as a father doesn't it?

7 What difference a few days make grrr??

I was getting really excited about our impending move to Spain, I had started looking at things to do, places to visit, how faraway Italy was from Valencia, and even working out some routes for trips out later on next year, and on top of all that I had another Drag Racing meeting to attend. I didn't expect to be still here to be honest so this was a little extra something to make up for the disappointment of the first couple pulling out of the house purchase. So last Friday morning the 14th September I was away on the road with the pick-up at around 4:15am having already apologised to Beth for missing her Birthday...Once again!

As usual we set up camp in the directed position in the pits with the rest of The Wild Bunch then the crew got started on fettling the car ready to run, Friday wasn't a brilliant day, Saturday was much better with Steve getting the car down into the low 9 second bracket,  Steve wasn't too happy as he wanted more out of the car.

More work was done on the car and even though we seemed to have an unending stream of small problems all of Sunday we managed it Steve ran his first 8 second run at an amazing 8.7 seconds at 152mph, just about equalling my best ever time, we are talking hundredths of a second difference  here.and this was with yet again a poorly engine and only launching on 4000 rpm instead of 7000 rpm so lots more to come. We packed up and returned the trailer to the storage unit and I took along probably last look as I thought Lorni and I would be away in Spain i a few weeks time.

Could be the last time I see my name on the car, I have told Steve that by hook or by crook I will be back for next years Dragstalgia to run the car, but time will tell on that one, I was a little bit emotional on the drive home I was thinking of my father and his passion for Drag racing and how I had achieved something he had always wanted to and now my son his grandson had also achieved his dream.

I got home around 9:30 in the evening and Lorni had my dinner waiting for me she poured me a drink sat me down and then told me that on Friday afternoon she had received a phone call from the estate agents to let us know that the second purchasers had withdrawn from the sale, she hadn't told me till I got home as she didn't want to spoil my weekend bless her. To say I was devastated would be an understatement we had been through this twice now and it sure seemed like life really didn't want us to leave the Country. I left thinking too much about it till the morning. Once sorted and dressed I had along chat with Lorni, now poor Lorni is going to work with a knackered knee she shouldn't be working at all to be honest but if she wasn't we wouldn't be able to pay any of our bills she has soldiered on because the light at the end of the tunnel was visible. Poor girl was an emotional mess so I said I tell you what we know a builder we'll ask Peter if he is interested to knows anyone who might be if not! we will just stick the house up for auction and take what we can get and just go.

We will get to Spain before the end of October, well this seemed to cheer Lorni up a bit, I walked the dog and while I was out Lorni rang me, one of the guys in the estate agents had rang her to let her know that "He" was interested in our house and had to wait till all the potential purchasers had done their thing, He came round the next day with his builder friend and father and then put an offer on the house which we accepted, yaaa the house is sold again, albeit for a lot less than we had hoped for but more than we would have got through an auction, but the money wasn't as important as seeing a twinkle back in Lorni's eyes, Here we go again.

6. Might really be happening

I have had a few days to chill. not been feeling too great to be honest, but I did kick myself out of bed early last Friday (7th September 2018) fired up the Dodge and left hone in the dark and departed for Santa Pod raceway to watch some of the European Finals, it was a long day and a wee bit chilly but I had a great time thanks to my Back Up Girl (BUG) Diana it seemed to break me free of my depressed state that I found myself in. I got back a little late even though I didn't wait till the end of the days racing. I took a few videos of the day action which I will eventually get round to uploading to You-tube when I have edited them a wee bit. I didn't take my stills camera as it is in desperate need of servicing and cleaning, Chris was coming home the following day so I asked him to bring my old camera back with him for now as he isn't using it, if only he had bought the charger with him it would have saved me a few quid LOL.

It is good to have Chris home I know Lorni misses him and so do I but, not as much as Harry, my god he went absolutely ballistic when Chris walked in, within minutes Harry had picked up his owl (fluffy toy) and dropped it on Chris's lap which means take me out for a walk please. Today, Monday the 10th I got up early took harry over the park for a walk where we found a couple of his doggy friends and a little boy hiding in the bushes from his teachers, within a few minutes the Headmaster was there along with a Teacher and the Teachers assistant but the boy wasn't coming out, when I left there were frantic phone calls going on to the little boys parents. My next job of the day was to drive over to PC World and buy a charger for the camera Chris had bought back for me I took Lorni with me on the way back we popped into West Wickham to sort out prescription and do a little bit of shopping, as we got back in the car Lorni's phone rang but for some strange reason it went straight to voice mail it was our Estate Agents so once on the move Lorni phoned the Estate Agents back and for a change it was good news the buyers were happy with the surveyors report and the sale is going ahead I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch but. YIPEEEEE!!!! The news even put a smile on Lorni's face

I have never liked this house ever ever ever so I am so glad it's going, I don't care if our house in Spain is falling down when we get there I will love it. I wont miss our garden either, over the years we have tried to keep on top of it even paid someone £3000 once to sort it out but, it never takes long to be a complete mess again.

Now thank god it will become some else's problem, so it looks like I will be moving to Spain after all it has suddenly got very real, best I start looking at the language and sorting my bike and the garage out ..quick !!!!