Received an email from my ole partner Buck the other day – just a brief note wondering how I was managing the weather conditions out here. Loving it me old mate. A brand new experience – I was like a child – seeing something amazing, seeing something all around me that I had never ever seen before. I had difficulty taking my eyes off it – i didn’t want to – it was all so wonderous. And what made it even more fantastic was I was out in it – I just went to work as normal, little realising that this huge dump of snow was not a common occurance. I found out soon enough that the buses and trains hadn’t left their station, that schools hadn’t opened, cars were left parked in the snow and people had just stayed indoors. Not me though, no way, I was up and out in it at 6.30 in the morning – and stayed out in it, riding around visiting clients and making emergency calls til about midday. Amazing – just lots and lots of snow on everything and hardly a person, or a moving car to be seen.

I’ll post some of the trillion pics I took in a post soon, but here’s an instructional video I shot on the day which gives some idea about the do’s and don’ts of mountain biking in snow. I mean to say if a bike’s called a ‘mountain’ bike, then I really think it should be able to handle a little snow. Right? Spose it might have been better if someone else had been shooting the video. I think I over-estimated my ability to multi-task – ha – nevermind, snow is wonderfully soft to land in.

And hearing from ole Buck again made me just a tad nostalgic for those days when I rode with the gang, with Buck, the Reverent,  and the Duke. Those were good days, rising early, riding the ranges and sitting around the campr-fire, telling our stories and singing songs – and not always from the same songsheet, but often enough on the same page. Or hanging out in on the range, kicking tyres and running tape measures over pretty much everything. And at the end of the day and all things pass. Now I’m riding a little freer; I’ve time on my own and I’m as social as a setter pup, lots of moon-gazing, no responsibility, no ambition and none of this ‘get up and get it’ attitude.  I’ve got a nice easy-going existence – ha.

x bhavatu sabbe mangalum x

Wow what a huge couple of days so far (check the last 4-5 posts!)

Just received a couple of emails from a web sheriff and have had the vid I made and posted yesterday,  removed from YouTube. Seems Van didn’t (and won’t I guess) give his permission for me to use his song. Bummer. I LOVE that song and I thought I had done such a wonderful job of merging the song and the images. Nevermind.

Buck to the rescue methinks (Buck is my music man – I hope he is reading this!)

Buck, apparently a cover is fine. Do you fancy covering Van’s ‘Philosopher’s Stone’ for me? Some wonderful piano in there my man. Maybe even just an instrumental version would be good, not that there’s anything wrong with your vocals – ha. Or better still a piece of your own?  Let me know, send me a WMA file ASAP.

So yeah, got told off by the internet police, though the email was very nicely worded. Fair enough I guess. Bummer though.  And then I got told off by YouTube. I don’t know, a guy can only take so much. So much ambiguity, so much roller-coaster, so much ‘now I see it, now I don’t’ sort of thing. Didn’t take them long to track me down either, about 16 hours…

Other than that I’m waiting to hear about a job as a porter in a local hospital. Sounds just right for me. Went down to the local Job Centre this morning and found it down there, they have this FANTASTIC system for looking for jobs – all touch screen and options and bright colours, and so simple to use. I recommend it to anyone job seeking!

x bhavatu sabbe mangalum x

Hello, Buck has tried 16000 times to get into the site but has found no where to respond to the lovely things that you have said about him.  

I have moderated this and taken out the swear words.  I really don’t know whats wrong with him considering the technically advanced nature of his music… and his promises of secret previews of the new CD… which is yet again, almost ready for release!!  You are welcome to use some of the music Buck will arrange (he says) when you get a web site that he can follow or will at least let him in – he hasn’t given up though and will keep trying to crack the code.  He asks did you get his email.

PS from Caleb

Found him sitting under the makeshift hut reading your birthday card sayng ‘I really miss Simon!!’

Which means I don’t need to rush about finding a job, not that there ever was a need  to rush, I was creating that…hmmmm….anyway so now I am more relaxed about it, I realised that there are some other criteria for the perfect job, such as

1. based in SW London (so I can stay in the arms of my love x) – well when I’m not travelling that is (see previous criteria) – lol
2. is a self-managing position
3. target/results focussed rather than time dependent
4. more contractural than permanent

That’s as far as I got, and some of the way I got there was through realising that I will meet with a management recruitment consultant person and they can develop my profile (using the above criteria, and then the perfect job will find me, the perfect….hmmm what’s the name for the person who does the perfect job? Hmmm I think the perfect job is both not really a job and so much more than a job. It is my life.  There you go, the perfect job is just being me.

So I’m off to see a consultant and talk about me (I imagine I’ll find that quite difficult – as Kate can testify). A lot cheaper than a psychiatrist, even a psychologist. I went to a psychologist once – and we spent the whole time talking about Kate (just checking that you’re still reading these things darling – ha – whose the funny one now). Anyway that reminds me of a joke :-

What do you call Maori on prozac?

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Once were worriers!

Awesomely funny joke that I found in a UK joke book in a Charity Shop. Hadn’t even heard that one when I was back home.  Glad I got that out of the way, I’ve been wanting to tell that joke for ages.

OK – some housekeeping (that one’s for Chas – Buck you out there compadre? You still sitting tall in the saddle? Hard to tell sometimes really – and you know I love you. Loved riding the canyons of cliche and the gulches of gullibility with you. You were my teacher, the wisen and wise Pancho Villa lookalike who showed me, in a very public servant way, how to slow down. How to appreciate the finer things in life, how to be in wonder of the seemly small and insignificant things that surround us (not that in any way am I suggesting that you were one of those). I know different, and I had the black eye to prove it.

So my musicman, play on, rhyme on. Overthrow the oppressors your own way. Never give in, never give up. Let the words sing, the melody tell of the magic that can happen. When? Now. Right now, right here, in this club, in this place, in this body. On this CD. Your CD, Your music. Your magic…out there, out here.

Sing loud for Buck and Tex!

Anyway, at the end of the day, after having kicked all the tyres, undertaken numerous warrants of fitness checks, and hopelessly searched every map, songbook, sheet and page I could find to make sure I was in the same place, on the same page, or singing the same song as someone else (I mean can we ever be?) it comes back to the housekeeping. All I have to do now is remember what that was again. Oh yes…

I’m without an on-hand broadband connection (which was previously supplied by Cari – thanks darling) – now we are without a connection and could be for some time.  So I’m here in an internet cafe. So could be a slightly different flow to emails, posts, responses, publishing etc.  And no pictures I think until…something changes.

Just to let you know – and provide the opportunity to write some posts of your own (if you don’t know how/can’t figure it out, ask Gaz to talk you through it). And someone, anyone (well anyone who is registered) anyway can post a pic – or even a vid.  So maybe give it a go – if you’re registered then you know what this site is about – perhaps you can do that – tell me in a post what this site is about, I’d like to know what you think. And remember always those immortal words of Oscar – ‘life is too important to take seriously’.  Amen that that!

x bhavatu sabbe mangalum x