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We are nearly there. At work I have finished the process of exhumation of the skeletons in my closet so that my replacement can see just how hard he is going to work from the outset. It will give him a great opportunity to show everyone just how good he is and can blame everything on me.
The MoD are being very kind putting the whole departments weight into trying to make my walking out of the door as emotionally easy as possible by generating even more nugatory wok than normal, in the shape of Planning Round 09. Never in the history of human valour have so many achieved so little with so much. It is the (semi) intellectual equivalent of painting the stones outside the guardroom, except at least this activity has the positive effect of a slightly better looking camp. Paint brush anyone?
Jodie has had a more productive time getting the Notting Hill flat ready for handover. Every night I return to an increasingly scruffy looking home, fewer white goods, more piles of perishable goods and dirty cloths, and wads of used fivers resulting from various successful sales. The sideboard is overflowing with booze which we 'must drink before we go'. We are giving it our best shot, with more than a little help from friends (special thanks to Aaron, Sarah, Ross and Mark for a sterling effort after my dining out). Slightly worried as Jane and David are inbound this evening, who have a attitude to tidiness that makes Howard Hughes seem slightly sloppy.
We got shot of much of our unwanted stuff at a car boot sale in Kilburn today. It was our first experience of what is obviously an institution for many. The first half an hour resembled the scene at the lifeboats as the Titanic went down (though with much less of the English language in evidence). We had people 5 deep trying to get into our boot before we had unloaded. I knew we had lost control when someone asked how much a pair of gloves were which were the ones I had been wearing and had left on the front seat. A very large helpful Jamaican looking man who was obviously a car boot 'vet' helped us restore order and explained that many were dealers who 'smelled new blood'. After we had been fleeced for all the good stuff, things settled down and it was quite a pleasant few hours and many people felt they got good bargains; in these circumstances we are a million miles away from being hardnosed sellers, which was remarked upon by a number of neighbouring stall holders.
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