fergus

Had a very nice day out with the kids yesterday. As always, it took us a little while to get out of the house. Making sure that everyone has a book to read in the car, that we have some CDs that we all can agree on (or at least some CDs that nobody will actually rip out of the CD player and throw out of the window in a fit of extreme irritation — not that I’d know anything about that) that we had sweaters in case it turns out to be a cold day, that we have some suntan lotion in case it turns out to be a hot day etc etc…

No, that wasn’t the fun bit.

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Through the next few days, we do need to spend some time making sure the kids have something to do between camps. One of the day camps was very short-term, and the other one doesn’t start until after the weekend, so we have a few kids on our hands with nothing much to do. It’ll take a little shuffling of both my schedule and my wife’s schedule in order to make sure that somebody is at home for much of the day.

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Now that I’ve introduced the children, I should tell you a little about my wife. No trouble at all coming up with the name for her; I’m a big fan of John Mortimer’s Rumpole books, in which Horace Rumpole, the distinguished lawyer, refers to his wife as She Who Must Be Obeyed. I believe that Rumpole is quoting H. Rider Haggard’s story, She. So from here on in, my wife will be referred to similarly, as She Who Must Be Obeyed.

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I decided that it’s okay to talk about our family but just not to use names. So let me introduce you to my kids; number one, number two, number three, and of course number four.

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I had an unusual experience in the store today. Usually our customers spend a couple of hundred dollars; a pair of boots, a tent, a good-quality backpack, that kind of thing. Today we had a couple come in who ended up spending over $6,000. They are heading for Botswana next month and they planned to travel around for the next year in southern Africa. I guess they’re starting in Botswana, partly because of that series of books, The Number One Ladies Detective Agency, which was based there.

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I’m really not sure where to start this blog. I’ve been wanting to start a blog for quite a while, partly to keep a diary for myself as to what I’ve been up to, and partly to share some of my thoughts for anyone else who might be interested. So, here’s post number one.

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