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

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