At some point during my trip to Iraq last year I put together a list of all the things that I had taken but not used, the things I wished I’d had, and the things that I’d taken and couldn’t live without – and I thought I might do something similar tonight.
Really useful things are a little difficult to focus on in a country where essentially I can have anything I want as long as I can afford the time and the cost but I think if you discount my steam powered laptop (which gets closer to it’s last legs every time I turn it on) and webcam then the most useful prize goes to my little pocket knife which lives in my laptop rucksack (which is more than can be said for the laptop – I have two here, one work one, which rarely leaves the office, and my own, which rarely moves further from a plug than the lead will allow cause the battery is knackered). I use the knife for any number of things which would horrify most people, like cleaning my finger nails, but chiefly it is responsible for roughly two pieces of fruit a day (usually apples and oranges) and has become my friend at weekends with smuggled lunch from the restaurant.
Most useless (if you don’t count the fleece jacket I travelled out here in February in) probably would have gone to the iphone based largely on the fact that the only people who ever ring me on it are credit card companies and HMRC, both of whom have been roundly ignored for several months now. I do get texts from the Saints telling me things that I either knew or didn’t want to know but they are usually hours after the event and therefore generally useless. I have the data roaming switched off because it’s so expensive and therefore the only thing it was useful for was playing games in very very very dull moments. The reason I say “probably would have gone to” is that since I bought the docking station at the weekend, it’s having a new lease of life as a music station !
I think the most useless/ pointless thing at the moment is probably the jar of Marmite that I brought out with me. Not only is it relatively freely available out here but I’m off bread/ carbohydrates at the moment so I have nothing to put it on ! A close second at the moment although it may fall away completely over the weekend, is the old playstation that I brought out. I haven’t even plugged it in so I don’t know whether it’s going to work or whether I’ll bugger up the telly or what.
So it could go from being the second most useless thing I brought with me to the most useful (God, I need entertaining !) in one quick movement !
There’s very little that I wish I’d brought with me that I didn’t because Tracey brought several things out – my favourite being a the little cafetiere and a mountain of fresh Tchibo coffee. It has brightened my mornings up no end !
Changing the subject completely, and if I’m honest, over about 20 hours as I had started this last night, intended to pick it up this morning, completely forgot, and it’s half past six now (on Thursday night). I had intended to do it at least an hour ago but I fell asleep on a sunbed outside for an hour (it’s that damn book – it keeps sending me to sleep !)……..anyway, changing the subject, I have just returned to my room to find my phone ringing – it was Ian, one of my fellow prisoners. He’s been to Abu Dhabi for the afternoon, for some meeting or other, and as is the custom amongst our band of escaped prisoners, he was stopping off at the off-licence on the way out and was ringing around to see if anyone else wanted anything…..which was nice (I ordered a couple of bottles of red as was my want…).
He has also gone mad…….but in a really nice and fantastic way. He knows we’re all bored and going stir crazy, so he’s bought a large disposable BBQ, AND SAUSAGES ! Yes, I am shouting ! But that’s not all, because I had a bit (and it was only a bit) of bad news yesterday he’s found something else………PORK PIES !
What a weekend we’re going to have. There might even be pictures !
On that note I shall summarise the inventory – 6,060 minutes since I last had a cigar and about 3 before I have my first glass of red wine for the weekend ! I am going to expend some Dirhams on sausages, pork pies and red wine but I can tell you now that every last fil will be worth it. Rest day from exercise today (good thing, I’m knackered) and the weather is dusty to say the least – there, that was easy.
Bonne chance à mes amis
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