008 - Cash in my pocket and heading for Bulgaria

It had to happen eventually ...

Yes, glory be, the sale went through and I now have the cash to buy a new life in Bulgaria.

Unfortunately a few days before everything was completed I had a ruck with my nephew, I am now in my 50's, and he is a strapping 21 Year old. My Fist WAS clenched and Heading for his Jaw When I Heard My Brother, (his dad ) shout, "Rod, F ** k Off"

This timely intervention stounkpped me from watching a six foot two behemoth crumple to the ground under my obviously superior punching skills, either that or it stopped him brushing off my hardest punch and sending me to where they push up the daisies.

The outcome of this was that I threw my gear in my van and headed

Two days later, of sleepless nights in the cab of my van I arrived at my bank with my sister-in-law to transfer a sizable chunk, to pay off a few debts, and give my brother his share of the proceeds.

Withdrawing enough money to keep me 

Once getting to my old stamping ground, (Folkestone, Dover, and Deal) after a few days of great weather on the South Coast we had downpours that only the likes of Noah have ever previously experienced.

Being A Bank Holiday on the Monday I got the ferry on Tuesday morning. wedged up with enough to pay for fuel, tolls, and the odd meal, I was off at last.

and of course end with a poem ... well I would like to, but my browser seems to be playing tricks.

OK, got it... so here is a history lesson :)

Myrddin Wyllt (Merlin)

You all know Merlin from the fables you're told
A recital of lies and the tellers I scold
for leading you on with these tales of magic
While the truth is forgotten a story so tragic

He was one of a twin with a sister named Gwen
Who waved him goodbye as he left with his men
To fight in a war for the king he advised
Against an enemy he so truly despised

The death and destruction drove him quite mad
From sage to unhinged the account is so sad
He ran from the battle into forest far deep
And lay in a huddle to do nothing but weep

Where rabbit and deer watched as he wept
Crowding around as the lost soul he slept
Keeping him warm through the cold of the night
Sensing good heart none were in fright

Merlin awoke to find everything still
His state of mind had turned to tranquil
So he stayed in the forest and lived out his days
Befriending the beasts and learning their ways

With idyllic peace and a mind now so clear
He became known as the soothsaying seer
People came from so far away
To gain the advice of Merlin the Grey

But tragedy came when he saw his own death
A threefold event that would take his last breath
To fall and be stabbed were to start his demise
Then to drown in deep water which would stifle his cries

The fear of this end unhinged him again
And turned our poor hero into one so insane
He became one to fear and for others to mock
Once angering a shepherd by chasing his flock

The villagers decided to drive him away
And marched to his hovel at break of day
Merlin feared as he ran for his worth
While his hateful pursuers were reeling with mirth

Distracted by terror blindly he ran
And this was the end of this kindly man
For over a river cliff did he fall
But for his death this was not all

For he landed on a lone fisherman's spike
And into his gut did this weapon strike
Then into the river did his body roll
Sinking down where death took its toll

The battle where Merlin did first lose his head
Is the reason Arthurian legend did spread
It took place at Arthuret just outside Carlisle
So treat Merlin the Wizard with nowt but a smile

The End

007 - Sold at long last... I hope & Are these words worth putting down?

I have been waiting and waiting, getting more and more impatient by the day.

Finally I get the message that we have exchanged contracts for the sale of my flat in Newhaven, East Sussex.

Completion on Friday.

So in two days time I will supposedly be flush with enough cash to buy my dream in Bulgaria.

If you don't hear from me again... well you can guess the rest.

But hopefully I will now be a regular contributor to this blog as I tell you of all the twists and turns of what will be a whole new episode of my life.

In the last few weeks while I have been waiting I have once again upped tools and been involved in a couple of computer office moves, and yesterday was testing all the network points for a company in East Grinstead. Over a period of two hours I checked out over 200 points, with just seven failing, these will need a bit of tweaking over the next few weeks to get them ready for the incoming move.

I also met a lovely lady whose daughter runs a brewery, typical, I find the perfect woman just as I am about to leave the country. We got on really well so maybe she might pay me a visit in the future... once I have a roof over my head.

The brewery is a new startup called Frensham Brewery, and their first beer is named "Forager", a lovely brew with a strength of 4.5 but not tasting too potent.

If you want to experience the taste you will have to visit the Hampshire area, this is a link to their website.

Frensham Brewery .














I have also been reading up on Bulgaria, learning a bit about the history and also trying to learn the language. I have a smattering of Russian, Czech, and Greek, which helps both with some familiar words, and the Cyrillic alphabet.

I have been downloading podcasts onto my ITunes from some of the language sites, plus I also have been listening to a Bulgarian Business podcast Bulgaria Now  which is quite informative.

I also joined "In Bulgaria" a year or so ago when I first decided that I was going to relocate, and I have been reading a few articles on there as well. In Bulgaria .

I will end this little write with yet another poem that I hope you will enjoy.

Are these words worth putting down

My head is full of words and rhymes 

that make no sense until

they get scripted down on paper

by fountain pen or quill

It is the only perfect way 

I can let my feelings roam

getting words in order 

and creating some new tome

I like things to have a story 

and avoid sentimental prose

of love and all things sickly 

like the giving of a rose

If I can add some humor 

then trust me 'cause I will

I treat it as a gift

though some would say a skill

Most everyone who reads my lines

tends to crack a smile

and make the writing warranted 

if only for a while

But most of all the reason 

that I use my time like this

Is to avoid work that's to be done

and this is truly bliss

006 - Things are moving... slowly & The Miserable Old Sot

What seems like another year passes, (but in fact is just a few more days) and nothing much has happened in my progress out of the UK and onwards to Bulgaria.

After sending another request for information on the progress of the sale of my flat in Newhaven, East Sussex, to my solicitor I did eventually get a reply. It was just one line that told me they expect to exchange contracts next week unless the unforeseen popped his head over the wall. I replied that I had seen Mr Unforeseen many times in my life, and had no wish to remake our acquaintance.

So the glorious weather in England was enjoyed by me by sitting for hours on end on the patio with beer in hand. On occasions I was joined by my brother, the dog, and the two cats.

My brother works extraordinary long hours, mostly from home, but you can see that it is starting to take its toll. He has a computer company and most of his time is spent looking at three or more computer screens while he sorts out the problems of his customers via the internet. The dog and cats are under a less stress, and mainly lounge about in the sunshine.

Stanley... the dog... is a beagle, a lovely dog who is overly affectionate to everyone that will tolerate him. He is forever trying to jump on my lap, and at the very least wants a couple of pats every two seconds. If you ignore him he gives you the saddest expression possible, while even worse is the reaction he gives when you stop patting him. He lets out a yelp, or a whine, telling you that you must continue. In this hot weather it is just a pair of shorts for me, no shirt, and no footwear. No problem you would think, but that is not the case when Stanley is around. Our family have had dogs my whole lifetime, but this is the first time I have encountered a dog with Stanley's strange habit. If he sees bare feet he has to lick them, it is just about the most icky sensation you can have. You are laying back in the deck chair, beer at the ready, eyes closed, music wafting over you and then... slurp. It always sends a shiver down my spine as I shoo the monster away.

The cats have two completely different personalities. Jasmine is old, nervous, and likes to be left alone. Spending her time either in her basket in the hall, or laying on the office roof enjoying the sunshine. Bay, on the other hand is an aggressive killer that craves attention... and then slices you with his razor sharp claws.

He is a lovely cat, solid muscle and as strong as an ox. He is also fearless and gives the dog a backhander should he get too close. We call him the evil one because of his wicked ways. He lays at your feet rolling over to get his tummy tickled, and then as you fall for his trap he hooks his claws into you and slices away. Nobody has managed to avoid him, every visitor... however many times they are warned, eventually gets sliced... and always causing the flow of blood.

My brother once stepped on him as he rose from his chair, the cat savaged him so bad it looked like a hospital case, there was blood everywhere. The cat screamed, my brother screamed louder. Bay had wrapped himself around my brothers leg and would not let go. Stanley spent the next few days licking up blood from the patio.

Anyone suggesting cutting this cats claws is welcome to have a go, no one here has the nerve to explore the possibility.

I did do a bit of work, one evening I drove my brother into London to do a couple of jobs, getting back at 2am, and I also painted the back doors of my van. 

The van is twelve years old and in excellent condition apart from the back doors that I can only assume took the full brunt of the weather. The paint was blistered as though it had been exposed to a heat lamp and took a bit of sanding before I could apply a new coat of paint. It now looks spic and span and ready for its trip... once I have replaced a couple of bulbs, and got hold of a spare tyre.

I have of course been looking at more properties on the internet, perusing at the route I want to take, and reading up on several different areas I might eventually end up in. I have copied and pasted a segment from one page, (with link below) which I found that might be of interest to some of you, and over the coming blog entries I will add short excerpts for your enjoyment.

Regions in Bulgaria

BANSKO

The popular Bulgarian ski resort of Bansko is a small town on the southwestern part of the country. It is situated at the foot of the Pirin Mountains and its altitude is 927 meters. Bansko is a significant touristic attraction that fascinates not only Bulgarian tourists but also foreigners from all over the world. The ski resort can be compared with popular ski resorts in Greece such as Amphipolis, Didymoteicho and Doxato.

According to a legend, there was a Slavic tribe called the Peruns who lived in Pirin and worshipped Perun who is believed to have founded the village which nowadays is the famous resort of Bansko. Bansko is situated in the Razlog valley at a distance of about 160 km from the Bulgarian capital city of Sofia. The settlement is believed to have been initially inhabited since the early periods of the Roman Empire. An important historical fact is that Bansko became part of Bulgaria around 811 AD during the reign of Khan Krum.

Nowadays, Bansko is regarded as a crucial international center for winter tourism. In its surroundings, you can see various lakes, old pine woods and mountain landscape that are going to make you stay forever here. It is famous for being the ‘’winter capital’’ of Bulgaria. Bansko was host of the Alpine World Ski Cup when many events, games with the ski fans, festive shows and carnival processions are regularly organized.

The amazing winter resort of Bansko has the longest ski runs in Bulgaria and the richest cultural story. It is also famous for its great snowboard and ski conditions, high-class hotels, spa centers, luxury residential complexes and restaurants (called ‘’mehana’’) where traditional Bulgarian food is served. It is especially distinguishable thanks to its unique architecture and ancient monuments. The Bulgarian folklore is attentively kept and the national folklore captivates people from all over the world.

- See more at: Bulgarianhouse.com

And I will end this entry with a little poem that I hope you might find entertaining.

The Miserable Old Sot

He slipped on a banana skin

but it didn't make me laugh

I've had more fun when cleaning

the tide stain from a bath

And the joke I heard from that great wit

I didn't even smile

the punch line soared above my head

and missed me by a mile

When at the circus, clowns were playing

and their car exploded

comical I found it not

my humor has eroded

Not even a grin was on my face

while others screamed with joy

it seems there is no hope for me

I'm a melancholic boy

I search in vain for my funny bone

but it look like it's not there

nothing can amuse me

and no one seems to care

Before I'd get a "Cheer-up Dad"

and encouragement all round

now they just pass me by

and look for safer ground

So I'll have to just accept my life

and say that this is it

and accept what they're all saying...

That I am a miserable sad old git.

The End

Hopefully I will see you again soon... with news that I have exchanged contracts.. and the money is in my bank... don't hold your breath though :)

005 - Dragging my feet & Merlin the Magnificent

Another beautiful day in England... such a shame that you can never guarantee the weather in this country.

Drove to Sutton, about 40 miles each way, as my brother had a little job to do. While waiting for him I listened to the cricket on the car radio and promptly fell asleep in the sunshine.

Back to Brighton where I cooked a half decent meal of 'Sausage & Vegetable Bake' in my halogen cooker for Mike, Barbie, Jack and Sam (Samantha). They all seemed to enjoy it.

My solicitor has been on holiday... and obviously I am way down his list of things to do... I emailed him on Thursday asking if he had any news, but no reply as yet. 

Years ago when I was living in the Czech Republic I was having dinner at a chicken restaurant in the mountains with my wife, and we were entertained by a couple of musicians. One was playing an instrument which he called "Bang on the floor", it is a strange looking thing with the face of the devil and is now sitting in the passenger seat of my Ratmobile.

I will take a photo and add it to the blog at some time.

Today I will conclude with a short story, which I wrote especially for lovers of "Britain's Got Talent"

Merlin the Magnificent

The young magician had waited all day for his audition on Britain’s Got Talent.

He arrived at the concert hall in London at 7am, even though the doors did not open until 9am. Being two hours early however did not put him at the front of the queue, and the smile of anticipation turned into a scowl when he saw the crowd around the entrance. Hundreds of contestants, both young and old, and boy did they look weird.

Jimmy came from a normal family, and lived in a normal street with other normal people. Looking at this group of strangely dresses misfits, normal did not have any part in their lives.

His first inclination had been to turn away and get the bus back home, but his determination to show his true talent to the obnoxious Simon Cowell helped him overcome his disgust at what he saw in front of him.

He forced himself to join the disorganised mob that he deemed an excuse for a queue and after a few minutes, he found himself wedged between an overweight middle-aged woman and an extremely tall teenager. The woman wore a bright yellow suit with red buttons, and volunteered the information that she had always wanted to run away to the circus to become a clown. Jimmy nodded and gave her a weak smile, a smile that masked his silent opinion that the woman was crazy. Fortunately, the tall teenager kept his ambitions to himself, though the fact he wore a frogman’s outfit did have Jimmy wondering.

When the doors opened a man holding a megaphone came out and bellowed a welcome to the rabble, and he tried to create some sort of order to the aforementioned queue. His attempt failed and as that was the last Jimmy heard of him, he could only assume the man went down at the weight of the pressing mob.

Eventually Jimmy obtained a ticket with the number 304 written on it in bold felt-tipped pen. “304” thought Jimmy, “three hundred and ruddy four, I'll be here hours”.

And it did take hours, hours of purgatory before his number came to the top of the list, hours surrounded by the strangest and most pathetic people that Jimmy had ever met.


Minutes later introductions were made to the two grinning imbeciles that he had seen many times before on the television screen on what seemed like every Saturday evening since he had been born. Suddenly there was a camera in his face as they asked him about props and music. Jimmy shook his head and answered the smiling duo, “I don’t need anything, just my wand and this black cloth”



Ant and Dec ushered the young magician onto the stage.

Jimmy was momentarily stunned at the size of the audience, and more so at the noise they made.

Pulling his thoughts together and taking a deep breath Jimmy walked to the centre of the stage and stood in front of the microphone.

“Hello, what’s your name?” asked one of the female judges.

“My name is Jimmy,” answered the young magician.

“And what are you going to do for us today?”

“I am going to make Simon disappear”

The crowd roared with laughter, the noise was quite overwhelming and Jimmy stepped back a few feet feeling quite dizzy.

Simon Cowell got to his feet waving his hands at the audience and spoke to Jimmy.

“OK, young Merlin, it seems like this unruly mob want to see your trick. Do you want me to come on stage, or are you going to magic me away from there”.

Jimmy regained his composure when he heard Simon’s pleasant voice, and saw his beaming smile.

“Can you come up here please,” said Jimmy.

Simon walked up the steps onto the stage and stood before Jimmy.

Jimmy unfolded the black cloth that he had been holding, it became bigger and bigger as it unfolded and the crowd roared with yet more laughter.

The young magician asked Simon to cover himself in the cloth, which he did without objection.

The crowd roared some more as they heard Simon shout out. “Hurry up Jimmy, I can’t see anything from under this cloth, and I'm scared of the dark”.

Jimmy took out his wand and waved it around while he mumbled a few well-chosen mystical words.

“Hubble, bubble, away from here, obnoxious Simon disappear”

Jimmy tapped the black cloth that was completely covering the self-professed “biggest man in show business”.

The black cloth crumpled to the stage in a small pile as the cheers and screams grew louder as the audience witnessed the disappearance of Simon.

Jimmy knelt down and refolded the black cloth as Ant and Dec strolled onto the stage both clapping in unison.

“Brilliant,” said Ant.

“Where is he”, said Dec.

“Gone” replied Jimmy...

as he walked off stage.

The End

004 - One of the reasons I am going to Bulgaria & Strictly for Snails

Yesterday was complete rest for me and the most energetic thing I did all day was read.

I am staying at my brothers house at the moment while the sale of my house goes through to completion, and rose quite early to plonk myself on a deck chair with just a small green bottle of beer for company.

This was a tactical plan rather than the need for alcohol, as once I had consumed a few more bottles I knew I would be off limits to any of the family asking me to drive them anywhere.

So there I sat sipping beer, and reading someone elses blog about their experiences in Bulgaria, and relating them in my mind to how they could help form my future.

Opposite my brothers house they were holding a pop festival, and from early doors there was a constant stream of people, (mostly young and dressed in the main like 1960's hippies) passing the gate. I am all for a music festival, and in younger days made many a trip to see many different bands. I can't remember ever relieving myself in anyones garden on the way to the venue though. Maybe it's my memory, or could it be the worsening youth culture of today that they have little or no respect for anyone elses property. I should point out that this was not an isolated incident... but literally dozens of peeing incidents were witnessed, and we were not even looking. Watching a young girl pull her knickers up after crouching in your flowerbed is a far from erotic experience.

OK, so back to my day of reading and rest...

We were not disturbed by the music as being music fans ourselves we had a nice barrage of 60's and 70's classics belting out from the jukebox at full volume. So after being joined by my brother, and a few younger members of the family, what was happening in the front garden was ignored, and largely forgotten.

The husband of my niece then asked me the question... "Why have I chosen Bulgaria?"

Before I could give a reply he was running down the country... a country he knows nothing about...

"Do they even have electricity?"

"Don't they live in huts?"

"They don't have cars, they all use horse and carts"

I replied with...

"You are embarrassing yourself with ignorance"

He agreed that that was probably true, and listened to my stories about the country and looked at photos of how beautiful Bulgaria is.

Then he asked me the question "What are you going to do there?"

I replied with "On Monday you will be working 9 to 5 working in an electrical shop selling useless items to people you don't know, and people you will rarely see again. You will then go home and watch TV for a couple of hours before going to sleep and repeating the same process the next day. At the end of the month you will pay all your bills and see if you can afford to take out a massive loan to build an extension giving you an extra room in your little house."

"Whatever I will be doing is better than that."

I then showed him photos of the property I intend to buy... gobsmacked comes to mind.

He then told me that the whole family will be coming out for a holiday.

So easy to influence the uninformed.

But for any of you in cyberland that really want to know one of the real reasons I intend moving to Bulgaria, I will tell you.

It is to get seriously into writing.

I have been writing poetry and short stories for a few years, and they have mainly gone down quite well. So well that I have started to write my memoirs.

These are a few of the reviews that I have received, and although I am not fully convinced about my ability to write, I have to admit that they are encouraging.

I am on chapter 24 of my life as a casino manager which contains everything that you would expect, and a damn sight more. Corruption, Bunny Girls, Gambling, Alcohol, Russian Mafia, Greece, Ireland, Albania, Hungary, Escaping the War in Yugoslavia, Bombings in Tel Aviv, and a few dozen romances along the way.

So although I will be omitting that particular story from my blog... I will be adding a short story or poem to many of my blog entries.

So for a start we will have a little poem about a snail.

Strictly for Snails

I am a little snail

who is learning how to dance

but I fear all is not going well

as I try to leap and prance

The teacher keeps instructing me

to do the things I can't

my problem is when dancing

I'm about as nimble as a plant

She is forever instructing me

to go quick, quick, slow

but how to do the first two

I simply do not know

So I think I'll be a wallflower

and lean against this wall

for dancing is just not my thing

I'm just no good at all

----

Thanks for reading... and I hope to see you again.

003 - Recovering from my last job in the UK

Over the last couple of weeks I have been working with my brother at the Farnborough Air Show.

It has been long hours with a lot of driving between Brighton, Guildford, (the hotel where we stayed), and Farnborough.

The work was IT Support for the journalists, photographers, and production staff of the flight magazine that is released daily at the show and the interactive magazine and web-pages ( Flight Magazine ). Initially we had to create an office with not only internet connection, but also a network that connects to their main office in Sutton. This meant cables, laptops, Macs, printers, projectors, routers, servers, and switches. In all we used over 50 cables, many of them 50 meters long, as well as three different wireless connections.

On the setup we were driving back and forth between Brighton and Farnborough, leaving home at 6am to miss the traffic, and arriving back late in the evening. During the show it was roughly the same hours, normally getting back to the hotel at 11pm. We had to be first in, and last out every day as not only did we have the keys, but we also had to make sure everything was working from the off, and had to do a backup of all the work once they were finished.

Our days were quite eventful in a techie way, with occasional problems receiving and sending files, sorting out problems with the journalists own laptops, and even reinstalling software when it had got corrupted. We also were the odd-jobbers as we had free time on our hands, and such things as keeping the golf buggies (used by the journalists and photographers for bombing around the show to press conferences and displays) recharged. Being over six feet tall I was also on hand to get foodstuffs down from the high shelves for the kitchen staff.

The Farnborough Air Show is a big event for the business sector, and is not about a couple of aircraft popping up into the sky to do a few tricks with coloured flares, no, this is for the major buyers in the industry. There are stands, and offices for all the big players from every country in the world, with airlines buying passenger planes, and governments buying fighter jets, it would not be an exaggeration to say that billions of pounds changed hands throughout the show.

Our little group consisted of about 20 journalists, 6 photographers, a production team of about 12, catering staff, buyers, and dozens of lads and lasses who were giving out the free magazine to the thousands of show attendees.

So all in all both my brother and I were exhausted when we arrived back in Brighton yesterday afternoon at 5:30pm with a van full of gear.

We were then told that within the hour we had to travel to my brothers daughters for a birthday celebration. Thankfully it was a casual affair, and consisted of a few beers and a take-away Chinese meal.

Getting home around midnight I collapsed into bed thinking that Bulgaria can't come soon enough and fell into a deep sleep.

I mentioned a few problems still to overcome before my 'Bulgarian Dream' becomes a reality. The biggest is the sale of my house... It is supposed to all be finalised by the end of this month, with money in my bank soon afterwards ready to purchase when I get to Bulgaria. If the sale falls through, so does my dream. It is quite a tense time for me, and I actually feel a chill around me when I get a text or email from my solicitors.

OK, today means a rest I hope. I seriously need it.

002 - A Collection of Interesting Websites

To be added to...

Domino Bulgaria - Video Stream of Bulgaria

This website is a continuous video-stream of promotional videos about Bulgaria.

Bulgaria - The Place To Be

A Daily Newspaper concocted every day with news collected from the internet.



David's Been Here - Bulgaria 

David Hoffmann has been travelling extensively around the world for many years, and this is his take on Bulgaria.



New Start - A New Life in Bulgaria

A great blog about a new beginning in Bulgaria - Enjoy the fruit, vegetables, fauna, and wildlife of Bulgaria. 



Regions in Bulgaria

A short... but informative description of all the regions in Bulgaria