BACK TO COLUMBUS OHIO…AGAIN. 2013.

“Here we go again.” I thought.

4am last Friday morning and I am up. My nerves are jangling but I greedily swallow my Valium and prepare for my trip back to Ohio USA and my Raven.

My baby rang me to make sure I didn’t oversleep. Fat chance of that. I hardly slept at all. My half dreams were filled by the sound of twisted tortured metal as my plane disintegrates in mid-air due to terrorist bombs, engine fires, pilot errors or even all three. I see wings falling off, engines exploding. Meteorites striking the plane. You name the horror flying scenario, I dreamt it.

But hey-ho. I have to go. Nothing keeps me away from O-hi-o…

And so back to my usual routine. Red hot shower, coffee and croissant to wash down the diazepam and bags ready for my 5:15 taxi. Last hug and kiss for my mum and I’m away. My gaudily decorated luggage which has aroused a few guffaws is loaded into the taxi and I am away into the cold dark early morning.

I am early getting away I know. My flight isn’t till midday but there is no way I’m gonna miss it. This means that not long after dawn I am dropped off at terminal 3 Heathrow Airport with 5 hours to kill.

Time for a puff and a Costa’s coffee but the inconsiderate buggers at Heathrow have moved Costa’s upstairs so first move is to check in the luggage. I am sure I hear a titter from the check in clerk as he espies my gaily be-flowered cases. But he doesn’t seem to notice they are both a little overweight and off they go to Toronto. That’s if they survive the likely conflagration I am still imagining.

Coffee. I need coffee (well in truth I need a stiff gin and tonic) so off to Costa’s I go. Large coffee obtained and outside again for the first of many smokes.

I wander the airport aimlessly between smokes until eventually 10:00 am arrives and I decide to go through to departures. This time I am pleasantly surprised. I retain my shoes and belt as I go through security. Both laptops out though and thank god no beeps as I pass through the metal detector, they even decline to ‘wand’ me. And on to duty free.

Now I do wonder why I bother but I buy 200 fruity dees. Pall Mall which at $4.60 a pack are still more expensive than in the states. But well… it’s traditional isn’t it. Duty free fags. Part of the fun of travel. I don’t bother with booze. It will only be taken off me at Toronto for my next flight. I learnt that lesson on my way back from the Seychelles at Paris CDG in 2008 when some grinning Froggy goon confiscated my litre of Stolichnaya, the bastard.

Anyway. I digress. Fags in hand I make my way to the bar for the second part of my flight medication. Beer and G&T’s.

Ahhhhh. The joys of travel.

……. To be continued.

 

© 2013 Stan M Rogers. All rights reserved.

Barack Obama and the Seychelles.

A year on and as usual the tide seems to be turning in the popularity of an incumbent President. I have noticed a lot of the comments lately on my Facebook and MySpace accounts about Barack Obama.
Some seem almost hysterical in their tone and those I have no time for. He also seems to have upset the religious radicals from the beginning but in my book that has always been a point in his favour but I worry that some of the knockers seem to be influencing the more sensible people of America.
But anyway this all brought back to mind the day that he won back in 2008. I was staying in the Seychelles at the time and I do remember it well. I can not say that I remember a single person there being unhappy about his victory and that included the large Brit and Yank ex-pat communities as well as the Seychellois.
I did write a blog that day and this was it as written from downtown Victoria, Mahe, Seychelles. Let me know your opinions a year on.

An Englishman’s Take on Obama… from the Seychelles.

November 5, 2008 by ceeceejaye

Today has been an uplifting day. Sandra and I awoke to the story on CNN that Barack Obama was well on his way to becoming the next President of the USA. After driving the kids to school we had to stay in Victoria for the day and wandered around trying unsuccessfully to find a cup of tea somewhere. No luck, it seems nowhere opens before 9am in Victoria but as we visited the market in search of liquid refreshment Sandra got a call from a friend saying it was official. McCain had thrown in the towel. Such pleasure.

We tried to find somewhere that had CNN running. The American Consular Office was closed and we tried the British High Commission Office but they only had radio, although I did enjoy the air conditioning as a respite to the 80+ degree heat outside. Eventually we made the Pirates Arms for 9 o’clock opening and I sat down to enjoy tea and a toasted bacon sarnie, delicious, and we caught the tail end of Barack Obama’s victory speech.

I must admit I am not that well versed in American politics. I always feel they should apologize profusely and ask permission to rejoin the British Commonwealth,but no seriously, even I have been impressed with the Democrat leader’s attitude. As an outsider it has always seemed to me that he wanted the job … relished it even, whereas McCain comes across to me as a man who just expected the job.

Oh yes McCain comes across well, professional even but Barack Obama seems to my humble eyes to have the fire and the passion. He really might make a difference to the view of America across the world.

All of the time I was watching the speech I felt a real sense of history in the making. A real ‘I remember where I was the day……’ kind of thing and I got caught up in the spirit of it whole heartedly. Sandra of course was ecstatic and after our breakfast we had to visit acquaintances in Victoria so that she could share the glad tidings.

I must admit there was no one that seemed upset that McCain had lost and everyone shared the view that this election could be a real changing point in our history. Not just in America but in the Seychelles and the world in general. Sandra told me that she actually felt proud to an American again. She told me of how she would even pretend to be Canadian to hide her shame at the follies of George Dubya and his cronies And I agree.

All Americans should be proud today that they now have a leader who can restore their true place in the world.

Now on to the UK….. Anyone for David Cameron?

Posted in Observations of Life, Seychelles Life | Tagged Barack Obama from the Seychelles, David Cameron,
Seychelles Life | 1 Comment »

Ghosts.

How can I feel like this now?
Let you down
Such sad excuses
Predestination … Huh.
You were there for this sad man
And this sad man loved you…I know
I left and I can’t forget the sadness in your eyes
Sadness I caused, sadness was me
Seeing that sadness haunts me
And why?
I had it all, my hand never left you.
Told you….many times
You were my woman. I was your man
So long ago…but you were
And mundanity is in the past
Missing you is more recent
Your lovely face asking me to make love to you
You in yellow, your favourite colour…and mine.
You wore it our first time
You looked so beautiful
So happy
And I destroyed that
But that is me…I can’t be happy
I told you and you never coaxed me
Never asked me
Never told me
But my hand never left you
Never forget that… my hand never left you.