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Oh poo

Mr. Slowly walks into a bar, the barman asks him what he would like. He replies “just a beer”. The barman says “why are you looking so down?” Mr. Slowly replies “well me and the wife had an argument and she said she wouldn’t talk to me for a month” The barman says “so what’s so bad about that?” Mr. Slowly replies “the month ends tonight.”

Inwi just sent me a text that auto translated to this: Morocco is in the semi-finals! Thank you, black man

great right up @Pedro i read it all ,i dont normally read all reports that long ... it was always going to make you feel sad , it did me and i was only reading what you went through , respect for going back there it was obviously something you felt you needed to do...

Still coming down...... So I sheltered with Bethan and let the wife splash about in it!

Bit neater by the time I left.

Snow!!!!

Booked flight home. Didn’t want to but schools break up 15th/16th Thurs/Fri next week and the airlines have so far every holiday been unable to cope and cancelled flights, add into that the border control strikes and them saying “flights will be cancelled” I booked a flight for 14th Wednesday, I’ll be damned if I miss Christmas with my boys. It was 20 degrees here today when the bike wasn’t moving it was boiling and I’ll be arriving back to a feels like of -3 I’m not pyrex, the thermal shock could see me shatter into a thousand pieces

I had made plans to go to Morocco in late September, but then a few things conspired against it. My brother was working in Croatia and Hungary and I think my parents can use some company to not deal with their health things by themselves, also my mum turning 70 with none of the sons around was a little depressing, to top it up work stuff went chaotic a few days earlier and that meant me having to do a lot of phone calls and emails from over there every day, I didn't want to have to do that as it would take away a lot from the trip. Also, I was a little afraid of how I would cope with arriving in Tangier. The last time I was there my girlfriend passed away and I left her behind after being pressured by family and the embassy to go back home. I never stopped feeling like I did leave her behind and I became anxious just thinking about it. A few weeks after postponing the trip to 2023, most of the work related stress was handled, my brother came to Portugal for what was a longish stay until January, and the weather in Morocco looked like it was going to be pretty much ok. Usually by October some parts of the Atlas get snow or at least heavy rains that compromise roads and pistes, but as I look to the weather forecast the rains that fell in September seemed to give way to sunshine, suddenly my dread and at least partially been replaced with enthusiasm. At the last moment I had the Mitas E07 + tires fitted, and on a rainy Monday morning went past the dealership to change the oil on the bike. My trusted mechanic got sick the previous week and couldn't do it. He works at that same dealership as a consultant trying to improve the mechanical work part of the business, so he came around to give me a hug and wish me a fun trip, he relates to a lot of my feelings as his wife passed away after being victim of a hit and run accident, being left on the scene. On a very rainy Monday I ride down to @Sofia's for a dinner with her and the next day I stop by my place. I spent two nights by myself there putting my head on straight, that wednesday was spent packing my stuff into the bike cases and trying hard to anticipate and solve as much work problems as possible. I also wrote a letter that I left behind on top of my dining table, the last time I was in Tangier I spent considerable time thinking that my life wasn't worth living anymore, with that being a realistic outcome of this trip I tried to not leave loose ends behind, settled a pending matter with Maria's dad, and leaving this letter made me feel more at ease with things. I also concluded I can't pack worth shit! With Maria we used to carry clothing for 4 or 5 days for two, rain overalls for two, etc, now I'm having trouble closing the bags with just my stuff, plus the laptop I didn't use to take, I'm not good at this! I slept very well, to my surprise, and on a dry 24th November morning headed south. I planned to sleep on the way, in Alentejo, as I did absolutely not want to arrive in Tangier at night in the end of the day. I wanted to get out of home and use only tiny country roads to spend the day like that. My plans for small roads was frustrated by the clear very dark skies to the East, so instead I got on the motorway and headed South to the Algarve. As I crossed the bridge over the Tejo River the dark skies to my left made me smile inside my helmet, my rain overalls were in the case and that's where I like them! I rode for a couple of hours always narrowly avoiding the rain while at the same time riding over damp patches of motorway. Arriving at the Algarve with plenty of time to spare before lunch time, I get of the motorway and take the twisty section of the N2 before arriving in Faro, some great twisties over the end of this road that crosses Portugal from North to South, and a chance to carefully scrub a little of the Mitas, they weren't providing much confidence on wet motorways, which fair enough to them makes sense when it's the own manufacturer that states that this "+" compound makes them less ideal to wet and cold. Brief stop for a scenic pee an hour before Faro Made it to Faro beach for a great ham and cheese toasted sandwich Then rode to Faro center, and went to the pharmacy to buy some stuff to take with me on prevention, and a tiny power bank to be able to charge the phone during lunch breaks. Also bought a book that I did not touch through the whole trip! Faro was looking great during winter, as always. My dad sold his place over there so I looked for somewhere to stay, it was still pretty early and hanging around Faro was starting to be weird without the place for my own, so booked somewhere a little closer to Spain and headed that way. Turns out that was a great success, I managed to get a nice price for a place that allowed me to park my bike ride outside my room, went to the supermarket to buy stuff for breakfast and a couple of beers, and worked a little. Early sunsets bug me, you ride all day, sun sets, night comes, and there's still two hours to go till dinner time. Took a walk around and a nice few pictures of the Ria Formosa fishing boat scene Chose a restaurant to have my dinner, the place's name was very promising but to be honest the meal didn't warrant pictures. I was left a little dissatisfied but at least the wine was decent. Thursday the 25th at 07:15 we were off to Spain: Quite happy to keep my rain gear locked in the case, I contemplatively rode to Tarifa without putting a foot down at all through Spain. Stopped there on a lookout just a couple of km before Tarifa, I take a picture of Africa as viewed from Europe and suddenly it hits me that I'm looking at Tangier. I get filled with a feeling of sadness. Just looking at it across the water. On some days it looks very clear like this, on some others it looks more distant, it's a 1 hour ferry crossing to get there. The boat leaves at 13:00 and I was early, like I like to be. I sit a little around Tarifa and have a mediocre expresso to kill some time, and make my way to the port to wait for the boat. A pretty cool camper was waiting as well Crossing to Morocco on a bike is great, you get waved to the front of the line, you get there at the same time but it makes me feel like a rockstar to be waved to the front of the line. On board the boat you go through passport control, and fill out a health paper on account of Covid, stating what seat you used and stuff like that. Completely fuss free mostly because since you board the boat first you get there ahead of everyone so there's no line for the passport control. Also, it's low season so not really a lot of people on board. I feel a little numb about the whole thing, like it's someone else that is doing this. The customs entering Morocco are fuss free compared to before, before you had a place for passport, then take your passport to another place for importing the vehicle, than back to the other place, it felt like an adventure, now you step up to a lady with a computer, and 1 minute later she gives you a little piece of paper related to your vehicle and that's it. That efficiency takes away from the feeling of adventure though, it's like you're entering Andorra Tangier also feels sort of European and developed as soon as you exit the port, no longer the smell of decomposing fish and decaying cars, now the beachfront looks like a poorer version of Dubai, I stop to make sure my e-sim actually works in Morocco and it does. I had no plan for the rest of the day, had to buy a sim card for data usage in Morocco, get money off an atm, but instead of doing that I rode the half mile straight out of harbor and stopped right on the hotel I last stayed over there. Parked outside and slowly walked in, to then stand around a lobby that has since been remodeled. It's got different artwork on the walls, different sofas, etc, but felt completely familiar and exactly the same energy that I felt when I was brought back here by the police after interrogated following Maria's passing. I was then left 2 or 3 hours in this lobby while the room was being inspected, cold and broken and in despair. I had called ahead to try and get my previous room available for a visit but unsure if I was able to spend the night. Those calls didn't go very efficiently, communication was not easy, so I just showed up and explained who I was. The hotel manager showed up and we talked a little, she remembers exactly what happened and how I spent a few days there the last time, and she took me up to our room. Room 501 was remodeled like the rest of the hotel, everything looks fresh and more modern, the bathroom completely redone, bed is now comfy and modern, but the space is the same and felt very familiar. I sat on the bed a little and was left alone for a while, and wept silently. It didn't feel sad, it felt familiar, I just wept for a few minutes, and then left. Back on the lobby I was told they were fully booked, I was now feeling completely exhausted and just felt like a comfy bed. A few tears rolled down my face as I rode off, and was tenderly waved away by people that had previously seen me at my lowest. With a fresh data card and money in my pocket I went to have something to eat. Quickly made a friend, interested in pieces of chicken from inside my sandwich, which he quite appreciated. I was depleted of energy, it wasn't late but I couldn't face riding away from Tangier. Also didn't want to pay top money for a beachfront luxury hotel, instead I went on booking and found a place very nearby, maybe one km or even less, with what I needed the most which was a closed secure place for the bike. It looked very typical going in: I did not like that room one bit, but it was just a place to stay for one night. Had a shower and went for a walk, that neighborhood was a typical medium class place in Tangier, feels proper shitty, you get high end condominiums on one side, with Mercedes G-Class and Range Rovers, and on the other side you get destitute people, sheep grazing on empty fields next to luxury hotels and casinos, and in between both is where I stayed. Some areas of Tangier clearly have a stray dog problem, clearly they're fed by some people so one or two protect that doorway like it's their territory, it's a cheap way to have a guard dog without exactly owning an animal. Felt horrible and I hated it. Walked to the beachfront through the park Cheaper way to have a tea by the sea: Right next to the more exclusive option It was a pretty sunset, but all I could see was what I didn't like about it. The hungry cats and dogs, dirty kids begging for a coin, bad smells anywhere not with a tended lawn and polished car badges. Feel the beat of the city, right! It was now cold, and I sat down somewhere completely non interesting and had a pizza. It was just the easiest thing to choose from the menu and not nice at all. Football was on the tv. A short walk back to the riad / hotel, and my bike is safe in it's closed space. I felt sad and regretful of coming. Had a conversation with Sofia and went to be feeling depressed and miserable. My room had an air conditioning unit that was too loud to have turned on while sleeping, there was a busy road nearby that seemed to have noisily come alive at night, and my bed was a little itchy, later found a long hair on it, and it clearly didn't come from me. I had a cold miserable night, and eventually passed out from exhaustion at 2 or 3 AM, having decided that there was nothing for me here except sadness and to go back the next day.

i am my boss and i do what the fuck i want..... Netflix all day it is then

snowing for fuck sake .... truck booked in to sort out esp light tomorrow , wont even be able get it out from round back of my house if this shit carries on , its proper settled already, train booked to go pick a car up ,bet you life they wont be running now... i fucking hate the winter

Despite having been nearly dying from man flu all day, I have just been ouside in the dark and cold replacing a headlight bulb in Mrs Moon's car, The twins are now decorating the Christmas tree, helped by the cat... this sight has cheered me up no end as watch the cat systematically pulling down, braking or generally destroying everything the girls try and do "Bah Humbug, to all of it!"

Fecking slippery last night. Only out for two calls but took 5 hours to travel 40 miles and never got above 3rd gear. Octavia 4x4 is a very sure footed beast in these conditions though.

Fowey River valley coming home this morning. Pretty but cold.

Today I am mostly hiding inside, it's firkin freezing outside and trying to snow a little. I also have a flare up of sinusitis so I can't breth and my head hurts. You should all feel sorry for me and and send me chocolat bars in the post to meke me feel better...

I bet it's frozen pineapple pizza!

Well me n the girl have awoken to a blanket of the white stuff outside maybe an inch deep, but it doesn't actually feel that cold

Me too, years as a postie mean I hate winter and Christmas, whole time of year is a PIA.

It's started

Twat, Feeling better about it now, showered, smelling all phoo phoo and just had 20 mins of the Stranglers at VMax. Ready to take on the world

Just collected Mandi from the train station. Says she's very tired after chatting to a gay couple till 3 in the morning.

I just let the bike sit and if the bike didn't want to start come the day I would take the battery off and charge it normally like they did back in the 20th century. I think it's drip feeding day in day out that kills them, but it's only a theory.

This just went live! Camino de Santiago Tours

No frost or snow here...but foggy ..very foggy.

He went a bit bonkers in the end, I think he went back to Israel to continue his work in world domination. What you say @zzzak? He was one of your Somali buddies.

Nobody will ever have celebrated as much ever as if Morocco beats France in a few days.

The truth is out

The bloke with the Dakar model BMW single? If it is, I had to go and find him on the other side of town when he got lost looking for a local bike shop and later on the same day I had to con the post office counter assistant on his behalf when they said his bike sub frame parcel back to BMW was too big for them to take.

no neither do i i didn't watch one kick overpaid pansies

Nice , I like that I've ridden quite a bit of the Compostela route .

Birds Eye Fish Fingers?

Walking tours ..could be just the thing for a couple (or more) members on here

The battery tender I bought earlier this year as gone on the blink....so iam going to donate some cash to Halfrauds this morning ....£25 for one of their finest () battery tenders.... Cos I think.my car battery charger would fry the scoot battery.

This morning.

So was this when the table almost tipped over.

Nice work Dave, is it a 5 speed ?

Pissing down here again!

What you say @Sofia ?

Who cares its football

Bobs bench would definitely not look like that there'd be bits all over the place and maybe even a few spares

Well I had....but....whilst you still can you might as well eh!

Just finished making 100 egg rolls...

£250... really ... you including the value of the car ?