It's been a while....

Hello there,

From the window of "The Cod's Head"

Well it seems a long time since my last post, and it is!  All kinds of stuff has gone on in my private life but this blog is not a diary and it is certainly not all about me.  What I want it to be about is the things I see and hear that people like yourselves might find interesting, informative, or just plain entertaining.  It is your comments that bring this blog to life, so please see if you can take a few moments to share your thoughts with the rest of us.

(Good to have you back! Ed.)



THE 500SL .

Yeah, yeah, I remember it now! While waiting for my tin of porridge to warm up for an early breakfast, about nine fifteen I think it must have been, tying a sheep-shank into each of my shoe laces because they are too long for the shoes and liable to trip me up, and listening to my favourite Monday morning programme, you know, Andrew Marr with three guests who spoke mainly on the the nature of the universe and of how a person nowadays can’t call themselves educated unless they also have a decent knowledge of science, on my new push-button digital wireless, which actually cost less than I expected as I bought it “refurbished” on the internet while in fact of course it was actually brand new (how do they do that?), into my vacant mind came an event from many years ago, a remembered event to do with a chance meeting.




In fact, the event was nothing to do with me at all. It was his event. I was idly staring out of the window of the ‘Spaniards Head’ in Shoreham-by-Sea, at the smoke and steam rising from the power station chimneys, and wishing that my life had a little more colour to it, when a brand new, Ivory Mercedes SL500 with he top open, pulled into the car park. “Wow!” I said to myself. You would have said “wow” too. The driver pushed through the lounge door and strode loose-limbed to the bar.

He was in his early thirties and very black, blue-black, slim and fit looking, wearing this expensive, tan leather jacket. I was intrigued of course and wondering how I might get to speak with him, when he glanced over at me, smiling, and asked: “How do I get served in here?” “Oh, we’re a little slow around these parts” I replied, “amazing car!” His smile broadened, “Yea man! I just picked it up, always wanted one, and now I got one right?”

He was served his drink and came over to my table. We were the only people in the lounge bar at that quiet time of the morning and the landlord wa busy bringing bottles up from the cellar. “The name’s Andy,” I told him that my friends called me PJ and we both smiled. “There must be a story behind that car of yours” I said, “If you have always wanted one, and now you got one?” So he told me the story.

“I was in the ice-cream van business and I had twelve vans on the road once, in the good old days, but it all went sour with the competition, then the game was finished. The business had been going bad for a long while with turf wars over pitches – Mr Whippy whacking Mr Softie ha, ha! - - “



Andy grinned at his own joke and we quietly drank our beers for a while.



“My wife was helping out by doing a couple or three part time jobs, waitressing and stuff, and I was working all hours, but we seems to be on a treadmill going nowhere. We had some terrible luck mind you, but if I tell you about all that you’ll recon I’m just not willing to take the blame for my own mistakes. Oh yes! I made some big mistakes! On top of that three vans got trashed and the dog run over. My wife was on medication in the end, you know, depression, but the pills didn’t seem to do much good. I was depressed too to be honest, but we had good reason to be. Our home was being re-possessed and the business was bust. I realise now what a good job it was that we had delayed starting a family. Our misery seemed to feed on itself. Our friends kind of gave up on us in the end, while we were too exhausted and skint to go out anyway.

I don’t know which of us brought it up first, but we started to talk about killing ourselves, you know, the suicide pact kind of thing? We owed so much money we could see no way out, and some of the people we was in debt to were not so very nice if you know what I mean, threatening this, and threatening that, stuff through the letterbox, like a bullet in an envelope? It was November when there is almost no business anyway. The days were dark and it seemed as though it would rain forever. We were just right down man! - - - Well anyway, we made our minds up to do it, to make an end of it all, you know, pills and booze. The thing is, when my wife killed herself first, I had to help her you see, I suddenly felt a bit more cheerful. I just didn’t feel like dying anymore and so I started to make plans instead. I got all the money I could fiddle and scrape together by selling this and that, and after the funeral I just left! Wow man! I felt so free and light on my feet if you know what I mean. I just walked out and left everything behind.”

He stared out of the widow for a bit, watching the steam as it rose and then vanished above the power station.

“Well, that was nearly two years ago now man. I feel sorry about her of course, but I don’t think she would like my new lifestyle much, she was much more of a ‘home body’, you know. - - - OK, must go, on my way to see a man about a boat. I just fancied a quick pint. Take it easy now.”

I had wondered what he was doing in this part of the world. Looking for a boat huh? The SL pulled lazily out of the car park and I watched it out of site.

Pip, pip, The Leg.