The Basement Flat

In the van at Moreton Valence. That was my 119 th. night in my beloved ORC. Raining! Topped up the phone with £ 20 via the dial 450 routine. Did a few texts. Left the site at 08:55 and went through town to the estate agentsl. Signed some papers and forked out £ 3,631.50 from my HSBC Debit Card. This is for rent for the remainder of this month, six months rent in advance, the £ 150 admin. fee and £ 500 deposit. Got the key to the door and was away by 10:00. Drove around to the flat at GL1 5SN and parked around the back. Made sure I could get in. Checked that power and gas was on. Phoned Npower and spoke to a woman there. They need the gas and elec meter readings. I hadn't yet worked out which boxes were mine, and the rain was bucketing down! Phoned Tracey at SWM to make sure I could get into the Shed. No problem. So left the flat at 11:00 and headed down the M5 and into Kingswood. More rain along the way. Got there at 11:55. 37 miles. Another load of equipment from New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton has appeared in the Shed. Had a cup of tea and a sausage sandwich. Just a bit of drizzle. Got my three trunks into the van, packed with tools and service consumables etc. Once again the ORC was well-loaded. Left the Shed at 13:35 and was back at the flat an hour later. Was able to park on the road in front of the flat and got my stuff inside. Rained most of the time! Got the water heater going. Checked out the USB modem. Only got a 236.8 Kbps signal. Bah! Email from Paul Mount saying he looked forward to seeing me at 09:00 on Monday. Out again at 16:15 and drove up over Painswick Beacon to Jim's. About 8½ miles. Got all of my stuff out of the shed and into the ORC. Only things left are a camping chair, a full 3.9 kg Propane cylinder and my Dandy annuals! Had a cup of tea at the Bungalow and set off with a fully-loaded ORC once again. Got a space in front of the flat again and did some more humping of kit. And still it had to rain! But at least the ORC is at it's lighest ever now. 103 miles today. Tried the Asus and USB modem in the back bedroom and got a 3.6 Mbps connection. So that's the place for that, then! Enjoyed a tin of rice pudding and peaches for my first grub. A busy day today but that's me back in my own place for the first time in the 400 days since leaving 112C Hindes Road on 17-May-06. Me and Tygus have put in a fair few miles, seen a few places, camp-sites and B&B's since then! It's nice to have all my gear back in one place again too. Did texts to Mum and Colin. Kipped down at 23:00.

In the van at at the C&CC site at Wolverley, just outside Kidderminster. I like it here. Bright but muggy this morning. Got a reply to my email to Ian Roberts about the AK-200's in Ed's Shed. Put Ian in touch with Ed and got a confimation from Ed. Did my "Hospital Design" post on ebme. Went out for a run at 12:30. Down the tow-path to Stourport-on-Severn and back. Still humid and found myself wishing it would rain! Back by 14:00. Got a call from Tony Dowman later moaning about slim pickings from Durbin!