Ker Plunk - August 14 2002

07.43 am. The Longhair has returned from his quest. He disappeared
last night around 5-5.30 and didn't show up for tea. He is a tom cat
with all his tackle in tact so maybe he had some business to do a few
miles away. We were worried about him as he normally hangs around most
of the evening, and I had to stand in the garden calling him about
11.30 last night. I think our other cat was agitated as well. Bizarrely
one of our neighbour's cats showed up at the window mewing, but she
doesnt live here (although they do spend a lot of time in the storm
damaged summer house). So when Longhair appeared I gave him a brushing
and he had some biscuits - I think he has gone out again.

I am listening to Ker Plunk again.

Yesterday (13) I woke up later, sometime or other, I do continue to set
the alarm for 6.15 am which may sound masochistic as I dont have work
this week or next but I prefer to get up early if I can and write. The
sun now appears so that it shines straight into the room I am in, I had
to pull the netting to shade.

I fed the cats and again they dived straight in. They must be hungry. I
wrote my journal and an email to Erin. Then I had a bath, after which I
messaged Erin. My wife went out to Leigh, and said she was looking for
office space with her Dad. I played guitar and then rang Erin, we only
had a short conversation as she had forgotten something important, but
the simple fact we spoke even for a very short while was good.

I went out, wearing the leather jacket, then decided that was insane
with the sun being very hot, so I dumped the jacket at home and
truckled off to town. I wanted to get AFI's "Black Sails" album, so I
went in Fives, and of course they didnt have it, in fact they gave me a
funny look like they had never heard of the band. I bought a Silversun
CD, the first Blink 182 album which I really liked, and the new
Idlewild CD. Then I had a cup of tea in Hippos, and then went to the
PDSA charity shop where I bought two tshirts and two Ronsons. I also
bought a pair of Levi 501 dark stain jeans as the ones I was wearing
are falling to bits and they are not Levis at all. I am thinking about
taking the Levis with me to Reading, baptism of fire and all that, plus
the pockets havent got great holes in them. I have to see about
that.

I am supposed to be tidying the room I use to go online in, as it is
very very messy, and my wife has told me that I am supposed to tidy it
up, which may mean stuffing more items in the garage.

When I got back from Leigh, I played the guitar again, then listened to
each CD. I went online and spoke with D for a bit. My wife got back and
watched tv. I had steak for tea. D went offline and I talked to Erin. I
dont like trying to eat tea when I am chatting, it makes it almost
impossible to type and half the time I felt like slinging the meal
across the room. I think I let the steak cook too long as well. I felt
quite pathetic trying to eat my steak, potatoes and peas. I didn't have
time to work on my story (the fantasy one) but did have time to write
some fictional sleeve notes for another project. I used the sleeve
notes to sketch out the characters so maybe that was useful.

I had a long chat with Erin. Then I had to go to bed as it was late,
and Longhair was still out, and I told Erin I was worried about
him.

I hope the flood in Prague goes away pretty soon, its the worse flood
in years there and the city is on the river too. What annoys me is that
when they built the dams didnt they think about a situation like this.
It's all very well opening the gates and letting tons of water out
(which they would have to do in case the entire dam gave way) but where
does it go? Into the river, downstream and so on. And floods
everything, also the rain which I hear was (is) torrential doesnt help
either. I have friends in Prague so I hope they are safe.

And we moan when we get caught in a shower, a sobering thought.