adore amy

full steam ahead!

And spring has most definitely sprung at last – yay! The sun is still shining outside my windows at seven pm, Scarborough’s lovely daffodils and primroses are all in full bloom amongst the woodlandy-bits and I, ever the optimist, have left home without a coat on two separate occasions this last week for the first time in months.

The joys had, of course, to be tempered by something and this turned out to be the arrival of not only a shiny new 2011 council tax bill, but also my gas statement for the last six months – how quickly we forget the weeks spent cowering indoors, hermit-like from the Siberian conditions outside! A brief sit-down and a mug of sweet tea was necessary, followed by a telephone conversation with the delightful people at Southern Energy who confirmed that they had been fielding calls for days from others who (like myself) just blithely turned the boiler up and kept it there from pretty much November onwards; others who (unlike myself) at least still have the traditional option of going ‘on the game’ to meet any temporary cashflow crisis. Obviously this idea has limited usefulness to me as a fallback, and I can only be thankful that I like jacket potatoes very much, and that my pre-Christmas hoarding of useful supplies (coffee, tea and toilet rolls, ginger snaps and those tinned baked beans with the little sausages in) has by no means run out.

Fortunately for me, flexible arrangements were made and coincidentally the next day followed up with my finally tracking down the only remaining pair of Ravel’s black Size 4 ‘Faye’ patent platforms in the land (or seemingly so, as my quest to obtain a pair has now been dragging on for months) on Amazon, of all places, so I could happily purchase these (above) with a clear conscience (and a slightly cooler apartment). The darker days have gone (fingers crossed), the taxman is pacified for another few months, the annual ISA race is run (and finished!) and I am approaching the coming months with the new enthusiasm that a bit of sunshine brings. I may even get some serious decorating done at last; yes, the hallway is still decidedly ‘derelict chic’, but many of the other bits are slowly progressing and the rapid upturn in phone calls and email enquiries for the next few weeks is encouragement indeed!

To London, and my very favourite shiny-shiny hotel, which has thankfully been overlooked so far by a spectacularly hard-of-thinking prossie, whom – touring lady readers beware – has taken it upon herself to ‘help’ others by publicly listing named hotels suitable for entertaining from on her blog (no prizes for guessing the site); this was brought to my attention earlier today and frankly you couldn’t make it up (needless to say, the only people she is ‘helping’ are the eagerly reading hotel managers). Anyway, my availability is dwindling seriously now, although there are some scattered appointments left and as some have happily found before I am always happy to try and wrangle last-minute slots wherever possible – so flexible types, it’s probably your last chance!

My plans for this week were altered somewhat (apart from the need to go shoe shopping for the second time in a week, but at the specialist running shop) by the joyous news of a new James Watt exhibit at the Science museum where the man himself’s very workshp has been reconstructed, and I shall certainly be visiting this (and no doubt boring anyone who’ll listen to death with it) during my stay. Regular readers will already be aware of my anorak-dom when it comes to matters of engineering, transport and the like and coupled with plans to catch up with some of my favourite ladies and try a new Lebanese restaurant I discovered by accident (thank you again Just-Eat), I am looking forward to a lively week after the comparative tranquility of home since my return from New York.

I have also planned my next trip to Scotland, and am pleased to announce I will be visiting not just Edinburgh as usual but also Inverness, and since the hotel and train costs were a steal I will be looking forward to plenty of peaceful me-time for exploring the beautiful surroundings, monster hunting, haggis-wrangling and hopefully encountering a few of the Highland cows I sadly missed on my last trip north of the capital. Any helpful local info will be gratefully received – I am not yet taking appointments since the trip is two months away yet, but intrepid Highlanders are very welcome to get in touch with enquiries/tips/suggestions! I will be in Edinburgh first from Friday 27th – Sunday 29th of May, and after the baking heat and blazing sunshine of last year’s late-spring visit I intend to be far better prepared (whereupon naturally, it will piss down and blow a hurricane all week).

My travels will nicely follow the departure of Trish Godman, MSP for West Renfrewshire; those north of the border may have recently seen Ms Godman has published her ‘findings’ following the latest tediously predictable attempt to outlaw paid sex between consenting adults (and also including banning it’s advertising, as in Ireland where obviously prostitution does not now exist). Early interpretations and a statement from the Journal of the Law Society of Scotland (which has been plastered over so much online space already we really do not need to see it again here) would suggest that once again she (or more accurately her successor) will have shot themselves in the foot, this time via the suggestions that prostitutes be criminalised as well as punters (and newspapers, hotels, and the internet – the polis will be busy) in the name of Gender-Neutrality and Fairness – ironic, since denying adults such a basic free choice as whom they may have sex with and why probably isn’t the first thing most people would nominate as ‘fair’. That you packed yet, Trish?

Back to the present, and apologies to those who have been trying to contact me by telephone over the weekend – I have stepped up my training for the Race for Life somewhat and barely been near the apartment (this obviously does not apply to Adultwork readers, for whom the email system is obligatory rather than just a clearly expressed preference). Those who know me will be astounded to learn that I have not only run the 5k four times now (admittedly with walk breaks) but raised seventy pounds in sponsorship already without even trying! Long may the trend continue, and there will be a special offer the week of the run itself to celebrate – watch this space…

Time for packing, pampering and preparation! Back in Scarborough from Monday 4th…

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