Snap and Scribble

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I worked a fourteen hour day yesterday – doing hog roasts at two separate events. The first one was a gathering of the “Essex Hogs Chapter” of the Harley Davidson biker’s club and i managed to get the van bogged just outside the farm where it was happening!

The boss had told me the job was in a village called Matching Tye, about thirty five miles from the depot.  But when i went to pick up the van and the pig yesterday morning it turned out it wasn’t in Matching Tye at all. After a bit of confusion we worked out it was in a village called Much Hadham, a different place altogether – and about ten miles further away. The boss had printed out directions from Google – which, of course, are no use when you’re driving, as you can’t keep stopping to read the next step of the directions. And the last few stages of the route were missing off the bottom anyway!

I did eventually manage to find my way to Much Hadham though, after going a bit out of the way. But i had no idea where the farm was where i was supposed to be doing the hog roast. So i phoned the organiser and got directions, but i missed the driveway into the farm and ended up a bit further up a narrow lane, with no real idea how far back i had to go. I started off reversing, but realised i couldn’t reverse that big van all the way back to where i had to go – particularly as i didn’t really know where i had to go. But there was no room in the lane to turn round.

Against my better judgement – but knowing i was running late and the pig had to cook for at least another hour before i served it up and that there was no other possibility for turning the van round – i decided to turn in a field entrance. I considered going in head first, as that would leave the driving wheels on the road and reduce the chances of getting bogged, but that would have been a tricky maneuvre and i stupidly decided to go in backwards. But there was a slight slope and, of course, i couldn’t get out again!

So i phoned the event organiser and told him i needed help. Luckily i was very close to where i was going and half a dozen or so leather-clad bikers came to the rescue. It didn’t take much of a push to get me out of there and i was soon going up the right driveway and getting to work.

It was a pleasant enough job. The bikers were friendly and there was a leather-clad singer performing old rock and roll songs, with a pre-recorded backing track, to an audience who were seated on a semi-circle of hay bales.

Driving the van out, i had to pass scarily close to a long line of shiny Harleys which were parked leaving just enough space for a big old pig van.

Naturally, i got lost again on the way back, and had a pleasantly meandering, but pointless, half hour drive around some very narrow country lanes!

I got back to the depot just in time to load up a pig and some salads for the second job of the day. This one was in Upminster, which turned out to be not much more than an easy half hour’s drive away – which was a relief after the earlier drive.

Kim, another casual hog roast worker, was working with me. She was going to do the salads etc while i took care of the pig.

That one was a fairly unremarkable event, really. It was a fortieth birthday party, with a marquee in the back yard of a suburban house. It was pleasant enough and not too drawn out. We got away from there at 11pm and i was back at home not long after midnight.

I’m feeling a little bit shell-shocked today, but nothing unusual for a Sunday after a hog-roasting Saturday.

I worked Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday this week, too. On Wednesday, i did a couple of hours gardening for an old woman who my sister met while she was working. She was looking for a gardener and Lucy suggested me. It was nice to work in a garden again for the first time since i left Maningrida, nearly a year ago now. But the afternoon’s work involved weeding a very overgrown rose bed – which meant dealing with a lovely tangle of stinging nettles and blackberries. My fingers hurt for two days after that, from the nettle stings. I’d never had nettle stings like it before!

I seem to have had less and less time to spend working on the two web sites i’m meant to be developing for a client. Fortunately, though, the salad preparation, which occupied half of Thursday and all of Friday, should pretty much come to an end in the next week or so – as boss hog hasn’t got any orders for salads after next weekend, i don’t think.

However, i’m still not likely to get a good clear run to catch up with the work i’ve been frantically procrastinating over – as i’m off to Australia for a month in the middle of October. But i am intending to get one of the web sites up and running by the time i go.

I booked a couple of flights today – from Singapore to Darwin and back. I haven’t booked the flights to and from Singapore yet though, but i checked the Jetstar web site today and discovered that i could get a return flight from Singapore to Darwin for four hundred Australian dollars less than the price they were at when i last checked, a couple of days ago. Although i was very reluctant to commit myself, i didn’t have a choice really – i had to grab those prices while i could.

So it looks like i’m arriving in Darwin at five thirty on the morning of the 16th of October and leaving again on the 18th of November. Now i’ve just got to get to and from Singapore – and from Darwin to Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Byron Bay, Brisbane, and back to Darwin again, all in a month!

I got a new microphone the other day, for recording my podcasts with. Up to now i’ve been using a cheap and nasty computer headset – and the microphone sounds tinny and distorts horribly. So, if anyone actually listens to the podcasts, you should notice the sound quality is better from today. If anyone does listen to the podcasts, how about a bit of feedback on them? For all i know, the never get listened to at all!

Tags: Travel and Places, work // 8 Comments »