OCCUPIED COUNTRY

Relax A decent chill-out day today. We had arranged to meet our Sunday afternoon drinking partners in'T'Willow - but the bloody thing was shut. I wasn't that upset though as I felt a surfeit of ale and food creeping up on this, increasingly, flabby body. A body that is hurtling towards its 49th year ! 6 of us went for a curry at The Westwood East Bangladeshi Restaraunt in Oldham on Saturday night. The beauty of the place is that the food is great, its large so you can always (more or less) guarantee getting a table and it doesn't have a licence for intoxicating liquor. Consequently you can take your own: and, furthermore they don't charge "corkage". This makes for a cheap - and drunken - night out. Saturday we had: poppadoms, 6 starters, 3 bombay potatoes, 4 pilau rice, 2 onion rice, 1 nan, 6 main courses and 2 sweets for £74. I reckon the booze consumed probably added another £100 to the bill - but hey ! Life is for living to the full - as I discovered on Sunday when I couldn't get my head off the pillow until 5:30pm. Just in time for the pub as it happens. So, instead of today's trip to the hostelry I read an Ian Rankin Inspector Rebus novel that someone has lent me. It's the first one "Knots and Crosses". It didn't repulse me, I found it an easy read but, I can't see what all the fuss is about...yet. Perhaps he improves with later instalments. Anyway I'll give him another try as I've ordered an omnibus from Amazon. I'll be able to read it on my hols. For the first (and possibly last) time in my life I'm going on a cruise round the Med. I've actually been and acquired a "DJ", bow tie and the rest. Should be an eye-opener if nothing else. The boat (ship ?) has got an internet cafe as well so, if I feel the pull of the blog strong enough, I may even become "blog on the road". We'll see - I don't go for a fortnight yet. If we enjoy it we've got our eye on a cruise to St Petersburg next year.