Somewhere in the world an Ebay seller has more positive feedback than they did last week

46 B.C.E.

One week after purchase, “Annette Book” arrived:

She looks fine, but the stand that came with her appears slightly unstable (especially if it’s had a drink the night before). 

I left my heart just off Liverpool Road

49 B.C.E.

Today I signed and sealed the letter that equals one month’s notice to my landlady. I haven’t seen much of her in recent times, but that’s the way I like it. The bargeboard still hasn’t been replaced on the roof, but I never noticed it when it was up there (bloody well heard it when it fell down though!)

All in all, it’s been a comfortable 18 months living on Carlisle Road. No angry neighbours, no loud music, no fog of marijuana in the communal corridors, no sinister-looking folk entering the building at all hours, no battle for a parking space next to an old couch that the council won’t take away, and no shower that runs freezing cold whenever the hell it feels like it. I even quite liked the odd domestics I heard through the walls – the non-threatening kinds can actually be pretty entertaining.

Anyway, back to the letter to Brenda – I thanked her for giving me my space and hoped she’d give me the first weekend in June to shift my stuff over to Ainsdale. I told her that, if by some miracle no one was living here when I returned to Blighty, I’d like to take up this tenancy once again (providing the rent hasn’t gone up like everything else – “This country!” etc., etc.)

I can’t believe it‘ll already be May come Monday and that the 50 day marker before jetting off has already passed. It’s not that I’m not fired up for getting on the road round the globe…just that there’s so much to do! And most of it’s boring, like cancelling the bills I won’t be around to pay, and getting refunds on those I already have.

But I’m going round the world…so who effin` cares!!!

Netbook bought

52 B.C.E.

Today we bought a netbook. It’s this…

[Samsung NC110]

…and I’ll use it to keep this journal up to date while I'm out on the road.

Knew you’d be pleased.

Tim the town crier

53 B.C.E.

Today on Facebook Tim announced to the world that he’s going to be, err….travelling around the world. He also said this:

“If you have any exciting places you think I should visit please let me know!”

Here’s a selection of the responses he received:

“Hampshire.”

“Darlington is a good place to visit closely followed by Hexham.”

“Southport beach.”

“Headingley office park.”

“All you ex-girlfriends’ houses.”

It’s good that he’s made his announcement.

Bikes and books

59 B.C.E.

Last night I watched The Motorcycle Diaries…it gets better with each viewing. The thought of two people roaring across 1950s South America on the back of a beaten-up Norton with baggage hanging off the back and barely a peseta between them, well, it makes what we’re doing look like a trip to the newsagents and back!

I’ll stop going on about that film now.

In other news, I’ve spent plenty of blood, sweat and booze this weekend trying to nail down the perfect netbook to take on our trip. To say the market is vast is an understatement. In typical James style, I created a spreadsheet and chucked every make and model I could find onto it, marking them down if the spec didn’t fit our needs, which are as follows:

10 inches of screen.

1.66 gigahertz of processing power.

1 (or preferably 2) gigabytes of RAM.

1.3 megapixel webcam.

A keyboard you can comfortably type more then three words on.

A battery that will get us through the most boring bus journeys on the planet.

If you don’t like netbook spec, you probably found that more boring than any bus journey. Anyway, I narrowed it down to about 7 models, some of which are a bit iffy, and some of which you probably can’t buy first hand anymore. It’s now over to Tim to offer his agreement before we start the bidding war.

I reckon we’ll go for an Acer.  

What does it say about Delaware?

65 B.C.E.

How appropriate that on this Easter weekend my cousin, Clare, should provide me with the Bible...

...it's a bit too chunky to lug around with me though, so I'll have to memorise the verses and preach `em as I wander in the wilderness for approximately 49 days and nights.

Ta for that, Claz!

The needle lies

71 B.C.E.

Here’s a link to a song by The queens of the stone age called “Feel good hit of the summer”…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvDZuptvupk

The lyrics go along the lines of:

“Nicotine, valium, vicodin, marijuana, ectsasy and alcohol…”

[repeat several times]

Then:

“…C-C-C-C-C-COCAINE!!!!”

However, today I had the following:

“Hepatitis A, hepatitis B, typhoid, tetanus, diphtheria, polio…”

[two in the left arm, one in the right]

Then:

“…I-I-I-I-I-IMMUNE!!!!!”

Got jabbed today. Two more follow up appointments to come. Still not sure if I need to buy me some Japanese encephalitis immunity as well.

Left arm aches a little, apart from that I’m fine. I do most things with my right arm anyway.