21/08/19 My landlord is trying to sell the flat. Linda, the estate agent, leaves a voicemail. 'Good morning. Just to make you aware that __________ has booked to view the property on blah blah blah at blah blah blah.' As always, Linda finishes with, 'Ooh, and Nick, as it's booked for after 5pm, would you … Continue reading Run As Fast As You Can, Bear.
17/08/19 Yesterday, on the way to pick up Spanish Iain, a pigeon suddenly slammed into the windscreen with a dull, solid and terminal thud. The bird came out of nowhere and was gone, over the roof, before either of us fully realised what had happened. Of course, there was nothing to be done and Malcolm … Continue reading Run As Fast As You Can, Bear.
15/08/19. The strangest coincidence today. A man turns up for a haircut. He's off on holiday to Cambridge later in the day. "I've never been," I say. He says that he used to live there when he was a teenager in the early 1980s. He begins to regale me with Cambridgeshire tales from his youth. … Continue reading Run As Fast As You Can, Bear.
13/08/19. Google 'busted boilers' and discover that the pressure has dropped. I watch the short video several times and eventually brave turning strange levers clockwise/anti clockwise... quite surprised to find that I fix the issue. Hot water! Heat! The house seems empty. The people in the attic flat have moved out - this would possibly … Continue reading Run As Fast As You Can, Bear.
12/08/19 Home, eventually. Exhausted. The communal hallway is busy with stacked chairs, a tall floor-lamp and a box of crockery. Why? No mail of any interest. The flat hasn't burned down, been broken into, or flooded. The spider plants thrive, but the palm has mostly turned brown. Why? I cut off the offending fronds and bin … Continue reading Run As Fast As You Can, Bear.
11/08/19. Short on time, the brilliantly monikered Esprit de Corpse finish the evening with a frenetic set. Jarvis is a great frontman, rather like a (more) ghoulish John Cooper Clarke; greasy two-piece, bubble hair, scuffed Cubans, yesterday's eyeliner, candle wax flesh. Bent beneath the polystyrene, he wrings the Telecaster's neck and spit-kisses the mic, "WHYDONCHAKILLME? … Continue reading Run As Fast As You Can, Bear.
