Bristol days and Bristol nights

It is the start of the English school year and all positions appear to be full. At least, I have not had a hint of work as yet. I have applied through several normal Agencies for office work without anything coming of it of yet, so I am beginning to get rather worried, as is J. She of course, starts work on Monday in a new school, but a similar (well paid) position. The coffers are starting to look a little low...

We got a visit from the Building Manager to say the person downstairs is growing mushrooms in a wet patch on his kitchen ceiling. While this might be a convenient place for mushrooms, it is not welcome so we have to try to find the leak. There is nothing apparent in our own kitchen immediately above (although the bathroom floor is wet but distant) so it is a job for the plumber. We'll keep you posted.

The week passed quitely as we got used to Bristol again. The temperature is somewhat lower, and summer seems to have skipped Britain altogether. Now that it is officially autumn here I guess we can't complain about the grey skies and rain we got yesterday...

We visited the Organic Food Festival on Saturday and got our money's worth of free samples and tastings. We returned the favour by buying organic chocolate. I am one who can't taste any difference in the flavour of organic produce in most cases, so it seems to me they have to sell it on the basis of either health, ethical, or price considerations. The first I would consider, the second I weight lowly, but being the Scrooge I am I'd have to see a very competitive price before buying regularly.

The Amistad is in town. This is a replica of the boat featured in Steven Spielberg's film of the same name about a slave revolt. Bristol and Liverpool in particular are making a big deal of the slave trade at the moment as it is the 200th anniversary of the (de jure if not de facto) abolition of the slave trade. While I certainly agree that we should examine our past behaviour and try to avoid the same mistakes, I think they go to far when they cover up a statue of Colston here in Bristol with another artwork because he was a major figure in this trade. Perhaps we should cover every building built on the proceeds? Close every road? After all, the citizens of Bristol benefited directly as a whole as well. No, I think the better response would be to create some artwork adjacent to his statue that highlights what we consider bad about him and reminds the public that we have moved on and (hopefully) learned.

That night C & M took us along for dinner and night-clubbing. The pizza dinner was at a trendy restaurant and was very nice. I even found a dark lager (like Speights Old Dark for example) to drink: they are rather rare in the UK, most dark beers being ales. After dinner we went to a nightclub called Oceana, that is a complex of 6 or 7 bars/dance floors. I can't post pictures, mainly because I didn't take any, but even had I done so they would R rate my blog! Short hot-pants are de rigeur so there was lots of leg showing - that's all I'll say or J will box my ears again. I think she has posted a link to their official site herself so you can see what it's like when empty.

Yesterday (Sunday) we went to the kite festival. It was lovely and colourful and we watched some very skilled fliers at work. I was a bit dubious about this, thinking perhaps 'synchronised swimming', but it was almost as good as an airshow where crashes don't kill people. They did various manoeuvres to music and they all involved a serious amount of work from the fliers themselves which I didn't really expect. The day was very windy, and gusty so the flying was quite demanding. There were also 'inflatables' which are shaped kites rather than aerodynamic ones. If they are cleverly designed their movements can look quite natural, and the cherub and mermaid were my favourites in this regard.

We have been sleeping rather well with no dogs barking, although last night we both had our worries. J's new job was always going to raise butterflies, but I know she'll be fine once she gets started. My own have been about work and about an issue I've had with the Army which I'll post in a separately so you can all skip it.