Bit stiff

Ow ow owww. I have come into work today but not sure I'll last the day. I woke up on Saturday morning with a horrible nervy spasmy muscle pain in my left shoulder. It wouldn't go away despite lying flat, getting up and running around, stretching, sitting very still and straight, taking lots of ibuprofen, strapping hot water bottles to myself and getting G to give my back a good rub.

Went to the doctor on Monday expecting to be told to take some more ibuprofen and put up with it, but he told me to stand with my hands behind my neck and fall backwards into his arms. I was willing to try anything by then. I'm not sure if it was some kind of shamanistic voodoo or what, but there was a loud crunch as he caught me and the spasming stopped instantly. Apparently that was the sound of several of my vertebrae popping back into place.

It's still very sore and whilst the muscle-relaxing pills from the doc are making me feel very mellow and a little snoozy, my shoulder still seems to think it needs to clench to protect my spine. I may have to give it a good talking-to.

I spent yesterday lying flat on the sofa watching terrible made-for-tv films on channel 5. OK, one of them made me cry, but the rest of daytime telly was awful. I didn't feel any better for it so thought I may as well come into work. We've got 'workstation training' this week. I'm hoping to learn something that will prevent this kind of thing happening again! I'm not going to be much cop slinging a massive backpack over my shoulder at this rate.

Plans afoot

Much progress. We have a first stab at an itinerary and I have new boots! We've based the trip on the OneWorld Explorer ticket that allows us 4 flights within each continent and charges us for the number of continents we visit. This seems the best bet considering we're not going to Asia and the alliance includes LAN for getting around South America. Other options included a ticket that allows up to 7 stops and charges on a mileage basis. I'm still not convinced the OneWorld is the right way to go as it is sort of forcing us to take internal flights we might otherwise not bother with. For example - one flight in and out of NZ would do us. Instead we're looking at where we could go in Aus just to use up the flight allowance. Given there's no price difference between this and mileage based ticket, we shouldn't feel obliged to use all the flights I know, but it goes against the grain.

So - rough itinerary is as follows:

London - Rome - Madrid - Rio - Buenos Aires - Lima - Santiago - Auckland - Queenstown - Sydney - Cairns - Perth - Jo'burg - Cape Town - Vic Falls - Nairobi - London

How we're going to fit all that in I don't know.

There's a bit of to-ing and fro-ing and back-tracking to Jo'burg in amongst all that, plus no connections to Nairobi - so we'll have to get ourselves there from SA. We may decide to ditch some of the flights in favour of more exploration overland in general rather than having to get back to the major cities the whole time. We may simplify it a lot and decide to go for the mileage based ticket so we could go to NZ via Fiji, but at least we're starting to get a better idea for what's possible.

The main aim is to be in Tanzania in December, climb Kilimanjaro for Christmas and spend New Year on the beach in Zanzibar. Nice.

Research

Yes it is quiet at work at the moment, but I am using my time wisely. I think. I have been reading a couple of really good travelblogs. The first is by a couple from New Orleans - Sean & Shannon and the second by a couple from Sheffield - Kim & Richard. They are visiting most of the places G and I want to go to and many more too, probably doing the whole thing with much more savvy and a better eye for a photograph it has to be said. Excellent reading.

I know cities are dangerous places wherever you go and tourists are always plagued by hawkers and touts and the like, but reading these accounts does bring out the worst kind of paranoia in me. If stories of gunpoint muggings in Rio and obnoxiously persistent touts weren't accompanied by incredible photos of Ipanema sunsets and Inca ruins, I might be having second thoughts. I do know it's going to be hard work most of the time if not dangerous in places. Not sure G has thought of it this way yet, but his sense of adventure is much more highly tuned than mine.

Looking forward to our day off tomorrow. Lots of questions for the travel agent and real sense that we need to get everything sorted itinerary and kit wise in the next six weeks or so. I can then concentrate on the big pack-up and all the associated administration tasks in April. Countdown has begun. So to speak.

Cow pie

Posh dinner at rock cottage turned out to be a splendid event. Dad made the biggest pie I've ever seen. It was stunning. I'm not sure this picture gives a proper scale. It should have had horns coming out of the top. We only managed to eat half of it too - the suet pastry was flavoured with thyme and parmesan, the inside a deep well-stewed beef and chestnut filling. We didn't have to wait too long to be 'served', which was a pleasant surprise. Dad gave the impression of being out of control, but Mum's help and one failed prototype starter notwithstanding, it was a performance worthy of a Masterchef finalist. Mum and I were the only ones sober enough to tackle the washing up though and that did take us a good hour. I think Dad really did use every utensil going. Including mum's icecream maker to freeze the tomato and tequila sorbet he made as a palate-freshener. Mum doubts she'll ever get rid of the raw garlic residue.

Sunday saw G donning his work gear and shovelling gravel, chopping wood and shifting a large mossy stone block that was probably part of the cottage at some point but has been at the edge of the woods for some time. Not technically Mum and Dad's land, but nobody was looking. Not sure why Mum was so determined to park a big block of stone outside the back door, but I suppose it is in theory the rightful home of said stone and fitting that rock cottage should have a few rocks to call its own.

Unbearable cuteness of being

I have spent far too long looking at Cute Overload during the last couple of days. It is easily my favourite site on the interweb at the moment and the perfect antidote to office tedium/anxiety. I think it actually releases the same chemicals in the brain as chocolate and it's calorie free! Genius.

G and I have an appointment next week with a rtw travel agent to try and pin down our itinerary a bit and decide on the best ticket. An early June departure suddenly seems close. Heaps to organise, but I've started a project plan. We'll just have to apply ourselves and stop watching telly. And gazing at pictures of teeny tiny kittens.

Human zoo

Another dismal day in the office. I have spent my most enjoyable half hour watching a pair of wagtails patrol up and down the roof ledge catching miniscule insects and generally wagging a lot. The idiocy of salespeople continues to amaze me. I used to be shielded from them, sat in a nice quiet corner of the office. They only approached me if they wanted something and had to be civil. Now I've been moved to a busier part of the building, I get to observe them go about their routine strutting and posturing to their peers. It's all a bit Desmond Morris. One today was bemoaning the fact that other road users automatically treat him as a w@nker just because he drives a bmw with a personalised number plate. I like the reverse logic. He's not a w@nker because he drives a bmw, he drives one in the first place because he is a w@nker. It's his fate.

Let's get a take-away

Thoroughly enjoyed Walk the Line on Saturday night. Predictable biopic approach, but excellent performances all round and even a bit of Jerry Lee Lewis I wasn't expecting. Splendid. It helped jog G out of his post-six nations match rage too. He took the Welsh drubbing pretty personally. Charlesworth and I had to hide in the kitchen while G threw abuse and cushions at the screen. I knew it was bad when everything went quiet a good 20 minutes before the end. Hopeless. Hope he doesn't have to endure a repeat performance this Sunday. We'll be watching the match up in Shropshire this weekend with his dad. Double the enthusiasm!

Looking forward to seeing my folks on Saturday. Dad has been planning the menu for some time to complement a couple of nice bottles of wine he and G have selected. I get the impression it's being over-planned though and as no decisions have yet been made, no ingredients have been purchased. We may be limited to whatever he can get in Morrisons and Lidl on Saturday. Mum has washed her hands of it and delegated all responsibility to Dad.

Whatever happens it can't be as bad as Dad's legendary curry night. OK, it was a good twenty years ago, but we all still remember. He spent the day prepping and cooking his carefully selected dishes from the big Madhur Jaffrey book, hand-grinding spices and grating onions… Several hours behind scheduled entrée time he presented us with three different ways to make curried potatoes. I can't remember what they tasted like. I think I was too tired to eat. I'm sure it was all delicious and highly authentic, but he has never lived down the potato obsession. Nor his time-consuming meticulous approach to cuisine. With G in the house he'll need to be thinking more 'fast-food' or there'll be no wine left to wash down the spuds.

Al-cat-raz

I am updating out of sheer boredom today. I have nothing to report other than my job is exceedingly dull at times. I have spent most of the morning devising a scheme to enable Charlie Cat to be safely housed at mum and dad's while we're away along with their resident cat and dog. Here are the facts:

1. Charlie is borderline agoraphobic, but prefers to go outside once a day to 'perform' than to use his litter tray
2. Charlie thinks all dogs will kill him
3. Charlie likes to hide in dark warm spaces in total isolation, but freaks out if completely deprived of human company
4. Pinkerton (incumbent cat) prefers the great outdoors but freaks out if completely deprived of human company
   

Here are the unknowns:

1. Pinkerton may or may not hate Charlie
2. Charlie may or may not hate Pinkerton
3. Coco (over-enthusiastic chocolate labrador) may or may not want to kill Charlie
   

I have requested blueprints of the house, garage and garden boundaries and will be designating a 'pink' zone, a 'chocolate' zone and a DMZ. Any space that's left is for Charlie. I think this will basically mean the airing cupboard, dad's sock drawer and occasional occupation of the DMZ (living room) when clear of all other residents.

Charlie and Pinkie are brothers, but I doubt this will stand for much. It's a long time since they shared a basket. Maybe under controlled conditions a re-introduction may be possible. I have doubts Charlie will ever accept Coco's attentions. Last time I attempted to introduce them I needed a tetanus shot.

Poor old Chaz. I feel so guilty about leaving him. I know mum and dad will look after him properly and encourage him to get fresh air and some exercise, but when I went to Australia for three weeks he pulled out all the hair on his belly. This could finish him off.