The last weekend

So that was it; that was the last weekend before I leave.

Wow.

It proved the benefit of planning and early preparation that I only needed to stay in Blackpool until just after lunch time on Saturday as I finished doing everything I could and decided that sitting around there wasn't what I wanted to do; I'd rather sit around at my house for the last time on a Saturday evening.

Sassy ate ALL the carpet

Anyway, backing up a bit in time I started my preparation for this weekend on the Thursday night as I was taking down the last bookshelf. This had been left as it was Sassy's Bookshelf which she loves sitting on, and digging under and hadn't she made a mess around there. I have, however, found that underneath this carpet there is a wooden floor which is pretty interesting archeology.

So that was Thursday; I didn't do anything much more packing that evening and came back to the house again after work on Friday with the plan of having quite a fast turn around; just grabbing the last things together and chucking them in Thomas. This started off to plan and I was gathering things together and boxing them when suddenly I was slammed with the realisation that I was leaving J behind and that in a week I'd be gone, never to return, and the era of living with her was over.

I was literally on my knees in the middle room, surrounded by boxes and with tears in my eyes and I couldn't keep going. I just had to stop. I pulled myself off the floor and watched some rugby with tears running down my face. I wasn't crying as in sobbing; it was just calm and quiet and after a half of rugby I managed to drag myself out of it and get moving again.

It is such an awesome and amazing thing which I am doing, however I will miss certain things.

Before I could be smacked between the eyes by any more emotional reactions to leaving I got in the car, put on Tchaikovsky's 1812, and turned it right up. That really did sort me out. It ran out just as I pulled up to the studio as well; perfect length of album chosen there.

Broken light

The delay caused by my pause at home got me to the studio too late really for me to get much done that evening however I did unload the things I'd brought; this is when I found that some idiot had been into my unit and broken my work lights; when I first saw it I thought they had ripped the front off trying to change the bulb however I now think that they just knocked it over and it snapped. Either way, they had broken it, knew they'd broken it, gathered the pieces up and put them on the side, and not even left a note or anything saying sorry. I REALLY hate this. It's ignorant, rude and disgusting to me.

Prawn toast nom

To cheer myself up (I lie; I had every intention of doing this right from the moment I left the house) I took myself off to my favourite chinese takeaway and ordered my two favourite dishes from there. Starter of Prawn Toast but not the rubbish one with prawn paste - these have whole real prawns cooked into them. I absolutely love these....

My main course

.... and then a main of the battered pork balls with sweet and sour sauce and egg fried rice. I have this from other restaurants and the pork is tough and tasteless; from Sizzling Wok it is tender, tasty and amazing.

It could be the last time I eat from here before I go (I am considering next Thursday having a chinese but I don't know if they're open) and if this is the case then I am very pleased with my last visit there.

I was woken in the night by hail hammering on the roof of Julian but managed to get back to sleep despite then laying for ages with my ears tuned out for drips happening inside. I don't think any happened at all and all the towels which I'd spread around were dry when I finally emerged from my comfy and warm pit.

The first task of the day was to move the pool table and other things which some other person had dumped in front of all my stuff on my side of the unit. This didn't take me long however I did have fun with the pool table slipping off it's trolley and me having to reseat it all on my own. This completed I pulled the shutters back down and took Julian to fill him up with fuel. What a huge thing; he's now primed and ready for the journey. I also went past the garage and picked up the spare wheels for the trailer; they hadn't been able to get hold of any more for me which is a big shame.

I didn't really do much more after this; I put a few more bits and pieces into the shower room in Julian and also tidied up inside again, unpacking a box of CDs and stashing them into one of his cupboards. I also cooked myself another patented Julian Breakfast and this time I was able to turn the radio on and listen to music (as they have not only fixed the radio, but also plugged the rear speakers in. How cool) while I cooked, ate, and worked. I have filled up the 5L water bottle for the trip, and started thinking about where my food will be stored.

One thing I didn't do was a cleaning tray for Sassy; I may still do this next weekend however I looked at it and decided I couldn't be bothered.

Julian in the sun

Around this time the sun actually came out so I pulled a deck chair next to Julian and read my kindle for a bit. It didn't stay out for long but it felt so good to sit there in silence, listening to the rain water draining off the yard, and soaking up the rays. Julian looked good in the sun too.

Dan turned up then and he made a coffee in the Rock Hard Cafe while I backed Julian into the unit and then we both had a look at the trailer board. If you remember I'd spotted that one of the lights wasn't working even after I'd rewired the plug. We took the covers off the lights and started trouble shooting and, after a bit of investigating, worked out that actually everything was working but the connection between the electric and the light was too loose. With a little bit of elbow grease we bent the prongs in a bit but this is not to be relied on so I've ordered a spare board to take with; if it causes a problem I will just re-rig another over the top of the existing one. Another serendipity was that we actually accidentally blew the fuse in Thomas for the hazard warning lights and this reminded me that I wanted to buy a job lot of car fuses for the journey; these have been ordered as well.

Acid leaking from battery

Another thing I spotted as I was playing around with the fuses in Thomas was this concerning leak on the battery; I would have expected this to be picked up by the MOT which I had done only a few weeks ago however maybe it has only occurred since. I am going to have to order a new battery for Thomas to get delivered urgently for Thursday; a frustrating example of just how much can go wrong with a car and how even though I'm close to leaving I still do have things to worry about.

So it was that I went home Saturday afternoon and enjoyed chilling on the sofa then heading to bed really early however my sleep was disrupted first of all by a group of four horrible little boys hanging around outside my window shouting swearing and abusing girls who walked past, and also playing around with my truck. Eventually they disappeared and I fell asleep but it really made me happy that in such a short time I'll be leaving this country with its packs of kids like that who know there are no consequences as if you go out and give them a hiding it will be you who get in trouble, not them. There was also a police chase which went screaming round my corner which I don't think I'll be witnessing on my dirt track.

A sneak peak of my shirts

Today I have done what is really the last part of my preparation; I have been through my clothes and separated them into two suitcases and a box. First of all is a suitcase with clothes I am taking with me but won't need on the journey. Then a suitcase (not very full, mind) with clothes for the journey. Finally, a box of work clothes which I am going to be leaving at my parents house. I have also pulled out my shirts for this week; these will be washed when we go past my parents a week today (we should have arrived by now as I type this... wow!) and then put into the "to take and not need on the journey" bag).

Sassy having a go

So I'm done. I can relax into the week without having to consider any more steps for preparation and laughing at Sassy whenever I let her out as I've walled off access to her favourite hiding place (where she had eaten the carpet near her book shelf) to protect the hard wood floor underneath and she is being DETERMINED to get back there including having done a full-length-of-the-room run up to vault over the chair and get behind it. This wooden board has now been positioned to stop that method; she'll find another way to have a go though I'm sure.