Transition complete – passport & visa

Got my OCI card in the post today. The document transition is now complete

…from the Indian passport & the British permanent visa (indefinite leave to remain)

…to the British passport & the Indian permanent visa (overseas citizen of India)

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The boy is back home..

… from the surgery.

Surgery went normally. He’s still under the effect of general anaesthetic, so feeling a bit groggy, and a bit pukey. We had to fast him for 12 hours before the surgery, and they gave him only a small meal afterwards. He’s starving. The GA effect means he’s unable to get up and force us to feed him. Instead, he’s just lying on the sofa softly crying… for food, for attention, for relief from the groggy feeling, and for his play time. But mainly for food.

Today has definitely not been a happy day. Not for him, and doubly not for me.

The only silver lining is that he’s back home, safe and sans-growth.

Almuerzo

Lunch meal deal from Tesco
Lunch meal deal from Tesco

This used to be my go-to lunch back in SJW days – BLT, plain salted crisps, and a can of Coke.

I haven’t bought it in, at least, the last 6 years.

I didn’t feel like driving into town for lunch today, didn’t like the options at H+H, and didn’t feel like eating the food at home. So, took a chance on this old favourite.

Turns out I still like a BLT. I didn’t particularly like the fried chips – I’ve only had the baked variety last few years. And, I consume an unhealthy volume of Coke Zero already, so this was just a drop in the pond.

I enjoyed the change.

I did replace a Coke zero for the regular Coke.

Anthony Bourdain

Anthony Bourdain - on life vs lazy
Anthony Bourdain – on life vs lazy

Some people leave a mark.

I have never met Anthony. I have never seen any of his TV shows. I have just read one of his books – Kitchen Confidential. I gave it 3 stars.

And yet, I’ve found him hard to forget since I finished the book. He has a way, with words, and a personality that makes him hard to forget. He should not be likeable, it’s hard to sympathise for him, he’s often an asshole, and very much proud of it. Yet, he’s also appealing, and often, surprisingly, likeable.

I guess his charm comes from embodying the hard bits of our lives – the grime, the slime, the hard knocks, the sweat, the wrong calls – and taking them on the chin (or dishing them out), casually. Like most of us do, yet refuse to accept that we do.

There were parts of his book where I wanted to punch him in the face, and ask him to shut his hole, and write something useful. There were other parts that I didn’t want to end. And then there were a few that I bookmarked for frequent return.

He seems my kind of screwed up guy. A guy I would love to know. A guy I would even love to hate to work with.

Continue reading Anthony Bourdain