GRAFFITI OR
ART?
22/12/08
Car is running well!
Added a few more stickers and have let my kids write their
names on the near side rear panel. Nice
touch!
I DON'T WANT TO
DIE!
26/12/08
This week was supposed
to be my preparation time. You know, sort out my clothes
for the trip and make sure I've got everything I need, but
instead I'm dying in bed with flu. The problem is, when a
man and flu are mentioned in the same sentence, nobody
believes you! Put it this way, I had to lie in bed and
suffer a documentary about the major religions of the
world, because I didn't have the strength to reach the
remote control! Everyone says things like "You're lucky you
got it now, and not on your trip!" Its strange though that
I really don't feel lucky at the moment!
CAN'T BEAT THE OPEN
AIR!
26/12/08
Bought a tent, sleeping
bag and loads of other camping supplies today! God, I hate
camping!
WHY DO I
BOTHER?
27/12/08
I've been putting
requests on the noticeboard at work for some of the gear we
need for the trip, mainly so I don't have to remortgage my
house again to pay for the trip! Of course, I always have
the fall back position of selling pretty boy McGill to some Tuareg tribesmen - I still
think he'll fetch at least ten camels! Anyway, we've had
some camping chairs donated, as well as some jerry cans for
carrying fuel across the desert. I've also been given a
three man tent, but turns out the other two have already
been and bought themselves tents! Bloody typical!
RAMBO MEETS DIE
HARD!
03/01/09
Someone suggested today
that we try and buy ourselves some guns in Morocco to
protect ourselves in Mauritania! What!!! Its one thing to
watch some aging actor wearing a vest taking on a whole
band of terrorists and winning - its another thing to
actually point a real gun at someone while they're shooting
back at you! My plan is a bit simpler - avoid any areas
where there might be people with guns! If we see anyone
with guns - drive in the opposite direction as quickly as
our battered old Merc will allow! I am not Rambo! I'm
pretty sure that neither McGill or Jukesy are Rambo either!
RE-FUSING
TO WORK
AGAIN!
08/01/09
Went with Tim the
sixpack (Bah!) to collect the roof rack from our kind
supporter Daryl (who also made the sand ladders). Brilliant
piece of handy work - thanks for your generosity and your
time making the roof rack. It is greatly appreciated.
Unfortunately, on the way home we lost power to the stereo
(tragic!) and the windscreen wipers and aerial! Why? Who
knows? Something to do with fuses I would guess! We changed
a fuse and it blew again straight away, so it might be a
bit more complicated than that! Took the car to the Jukes,
explained the situation, left the car at his house and
borrowed his new Audi to get home safely. Both Tim and I
expect the problem to be rectified by Saturday - we have
faith in Jukesy's problem solving abilities (and none in
ours!).
I LOVE IT WHEN A PLAN
COMES TOGETHER!
08/01/09
I've been thinking
about roles and responsibilities in the team. I am
responsible for finding faults with the car; Tim's role is
to discuss the faults with myself and pontificate about
what may be causing the problem, without any resolution.
Jukesy's role is to discard most of what we say and get on
and fix the problem! (Its lucky we decided to bring him
along!) What a team! Banjul here we come!
IT'S HAMMER TIME
AGAIN!
09/01/09
I've packed some
clothes and my collection of hammers for the trip - nothing
can stop me now!
I BELIEVE IN MIRACLES,
WHERE YOU FROM, YOU SEXY THING!
09/01/09
I've spent a couple of
hours burning CD's to play on the trip, because I can't go
three weeks listening to McGill and Jukesy's disco crap! I
do believe in miracles though - I believe their disco CD's
are going to be miraculously scratched quite early in the
trip!
