Visit from Jerome and Co

Out of the blue somewhat, our friend Jerome got in touch to say that he was looking after his kids this weekend and could he come for a visit. I haven't see him for 18 months or so since we saw a Blonde Redhead concert together in London, Linda wasn't seen him for over two years, since he visited us for a weekend with Jenny, his then partner and mother of his two kids.

Jerome duly arrived in his new motorhome - a four person, state of the art affair that is exactly like the ones I looked at a year or so ago. I couldn't resist asking him if he hires it out when he's not using it but he was adament that we could simply borrow it if we wanted. Suddenly the tentative plans for Linda and I to visit Scotland in the summer have taken an interesting turn.

Jerome was accompanied by Lily, who is now 5 and at junior school and Elijah is is a "terrible two". But in addition, he had brought Rosie, a 5 month old golden retriever puppy. Both Linda and I were agreed about how lovely she was. A week or so ago, when we saw Marley and Me, we had looked at some websites selling huskie and newfoundland puppies. Now we are definitely pondering on getting a dog, maybe in a year or two.

Jerome is still working at Fimat, which he joined when we finally closed Procyon. He seemed to be doing ok, but he did say he was on a final warning after a trading error. However he didn't seemed too fussed by this. I would guess that his new relationship with Caroline (a yoga teacher who he lives with in London) is the main reason for this. He still has many of his idealistic ideas intact - for instance, he is considering retraining as a primary school teacher.

After lunch we went for a walk round the village - I got to walk the dog! A brief stop at the Pub and soon after the two kids are getting tired and grumpy. So he packs everyone up in the motorhome and is off to meet Caroline in Newbury for the night. Jerome is a marvellous parent, really caring to the two kinds even when obviously grumpy and not behaving well. By contrast, both Linda and I feel that this was ok in small doses, but maybe not longer term - what will happen when Emma has kids!!

With much excitement, we have been considering possible dates to borrow the motorhome. I have sketched out to Linda a possible tour of Scotland, making our may up the west coast at least as far as Ullapool (and maybe further north) then down via the Cairngorms (where we should be able to see the Ospreys) and finally to Edinburgh. Our planned dates are the second and third weeks of August - hopefully I can agree these with Jerome and start thinking about booking camp sites.

This is a fantastic opportunity to discover if we enjoy this sort of trip. I am still pondering on whether we might buy our own at some later date

"A Random Blast from the Past"

March 1st 1983

Last night was the final episode of "M.A.S.H" in the USA, a deeply moving end to a wonderful series by all accounts. I can't remember a time when this wasn't on TV. Oh, and Selina Scott accidentally said "shit" on Breakfast TV

I met Paul for lunch and a discussion on our plan for me to stand for General Secretary of the student's union. Our purpose is to obtain some money and stationery. I am planning to stand as the "record attempt at lowest vote polled" candidate.

With Nyssa no longer a character on Doctor Who, I am forced to stay in the library till closing. Hung out in my usual 3C and spent half an hour chatting to Ruth. Bit of reading - mainly Plamentz's on the "English Utilitarians"

(Addendum. I eventually obtained 8 votes in the election which means I failed in my record attempt. But my performance at the hustings and in the school newspaper were very effective. The money and stationery were well used.

A month ago, I downloaded all the Peter Davidson episodes of Doctor Who and have watched one or two featuring Nyssa and Tegan - the only time the Doctor has had two female assistants.

Ruth Thompson was an object of lust throughout my time at LSE. We never made it past friends though. When we did go on a date, I took her to see "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" and she hated it! I have no idea what ever happened to Ruth. She took a gap year after LSE and we lost touch)