2nd October 2023
Finally the plane took off, it was delayed by an hour. Fortunately there was an empty seat next to me, and paying for extra legroom was great, I could stretch out my short legs in comfort.
The selection of new films was a bit dire, but I found one that I could become absorbed in.
My noise cancelling headphones are a blessing, all extraneous noise disappears including the flight attendant’s attempts to communicate with me.
We touched down at Heathrow just after 9.30am then there was slow progress to the final gate. The airport doesn’t change much, the corridors always look temporary, whereas the terminal buildings get all the glamour and huge amounts of money spent on them.
Passing through the immigration was efficient even with my virgin passport, a quick scan and photo and I was through.
The baggage claim was quick, my jumbo case was one of the first to appear, maybe it was used to stabilise the aircraft.
No problem at customs, through the arrivals lounge and outside I took my first deep breath of English air, it felt good, the fumes were what I remembered.
I called my son Damian to check where he was. I had kept him advised of my expected arrival, and he was just pulling into the short stay car park. Apparently things have changed a lot since I’ve been away. He told me you now have to pay to drop off outside the terminal, and there is no longer a pick up point unless you drive a bus or shuttle. There were also changes to the low emission zones, so you have to pay to enter that as well. So it cost him over thirty quid just to collect me, I felt bad about that. I guess the system is screwing everyone now.
We both met up on the glass bridge between the terminal and the multi storey car park.
He had brought the Rolls, mainly because it had the biggest boot, but also who wouldn’t want to get picked up in such a vehicle?
However they are not designed to negotiate multi-storey car parks, so with extreme trepidation he manoeuvred the beast out of the building and on to the motorway.
On the way we talked about the state of the world, and I discovered that he knew all about the vaccine controversy, the corruption that is going on in American and British politics and the real reason for the war in Ukraine, and instead of being at loggerheads with each other we were in total agreement with my re-educated self, this was the first time ever.
We drove down to his home where I stayed the night. It gave me a chance to meet my grandchildren George and Ethan, they had grown so much.
We picked them up from their private school.
I brought them gifts of two elastic powered projects, of course I immediately regretted getting them, as I was the one designated to build them. Typically they both wanted them at the same time, and this was a lot for my sleep deprived mind to tackle, I should have bought them flick knives.
The two wind up planes were eventually finished, but the weather was not good enough to take them outside, which didn’t go down well, I forgot how impatient young children were.
I then made the mistake of agreeing to have a kick about in the back garden, this is when you realise that old people sit in chairs watching, not participating. After half an hour I thought I was going to die, bathed in sweat I decided to let them win, but that would be too easy, the game went on, determined not to be an old git I managed to score more goals.
“Just one more ” Ethan would shout and I was praying that he would score, I even tried to kick the ball into my own net, but missed.
In the end I surrendered, promising a return match the next time I would visit, now I just wanted to sleep.
Another Lifetime to go 