Clear water

Incredible sandcastles

On the beach at Puerto Pollensa

Denise deserved a reward too

Erm, for saving me from plummeting to my death, as much for climbing the steps

View from the bottom, afterwards

Denise has a picture of of drinking my well deserved beer

I walked all the way up these steps

View from the top of 365 steps down to Pollensa, Mallorca

Holidays

Not long till our holidays. Not said anything about it here previously, as I think all the family know all about it - maybe bored by now, actually. But, we're going to Puerto Pollensa (or Port de Pollenca, depending on where you're from) on Majorca. Majorca had never really appealed to me before, because everyone just went on about the party side of things - not quite Ibiza, but still lots of Brits Abroad stuff. Anyway, Puerto Pollensa has been recommended by friends who've been so we thought we'd give it a try. Private hire and flights rather than a package, but the apartment looks nice, and it's not far from the town centre without being too close. Should be nice and quiet for us, just as we like it, but with access to bars and restaurants as well.

Natalie, Debbie's daughter (Simon's the Evil Stepdad, a.k.a Bob - don't ask why), is working there - actually in Puerto Pollensa, exactly where we are going - at the moment. Not sure what she's doing, exactly: Simon said she was going there to work, but didn't say what job; and I didn't ask for some reason. I sort of assumed that I should know; that maybe he'd already told me the job, if not the location, until he found out that we were going to the same place. Maybe I should ask, even if I have been told before and I've forgotten. I find this happens to me a lot ...

Matt, who is one of my drinking buddies (and my optician, as it happens) is there at the sime time as well, so we'll probably meet up for a drink.

Too long in a wheelchair!

I keep finding myself reaching for wheelchair wheels when I'm sitting in my office chair and needing to move closer to the desk. Maybe it's because the black curved armrests look a bit like
my chair's wheels in my peripheral vision.

I posted an entry on the UK Limb Loss forum telling my pals there that I'm back in work. Must remember to check back and see if there's any response. I'd put money on Leggz replying - he always has something positive to say. He's been a below-knee amputee like me for a quite a few years. He keeps egging me on to go on long bike rides and meet up with another guy round here (possibly Glasgow) who's name I can't remember right now - it's sort of like, "let's you and him fight". Doesn't offer to do anything himself, just suggests stuff and sits back to wait.

Into a new month

I've been trying to cut down my gabapentin since seeing the consultant at the Astley Ainslie, but perhaps because of the excercise of walking to work from the station (lots of slopes and steps) I'm starting to get phantom pains when I'm sitting at my desk. Of course sitting at a desk is a different position from what I've been used to for a while, but I never got it when I was sitting at my computer. I'm certainly getting a lot more exercise walking than I have been getting lately, and maybe that's stirred something up.

This is so annoying, but then again, the problems I've had with memory might have had a lot to do with the lack of mental stimulation, and it's possible that the amount I'm having to think about the complexities of investment banking here at Standard Life will help to cure me of that, and I'll be able to increase my gabapentin dose again.

Rossi's 100 wins

I watched my recording of the Dutch TT from last weekend the other day, and Rossi had a big celebration set up for winning his 100th bike grand prix race. He had a huge banner made up of a photo of each of his victory laps, numbered (in yellow, of course) from 1 to 99. He's such a laugh, and so good at what he does. He has a lot of friends around him, which is good. Compare him with Michael Jackson, who admitted he lived a lonely life: everyone around his was paid by him to do a job, or was trying to get something out of him. Rossi still spends as much time as he can with his family, and friends from his home village: he is so much healthier mentally for it.

Why do I not dislike Rossi for winning all the time as I disliked Schumacher? Dunno. I like his sportsmanship, and acute sense of fun: although he obviously would rather win, if he's lost after a good tight battle, it seems to give him as much enjoyment. I think he'd rather fight to the end, like he did at Catalunya this year, than win by four or five seconds. To him, it's the race that counts almost as much as the win. If Schumi was involved in a close fought battle, he would often be critical of his opponent for attempting to get by him. Maybe it's because F1 GPs are won in the pitlane, so the drivers don't expect to be banging wheels, and are not accustomed to driving side by side into corners and swapping leads several times in a lap: they are just not given the opportunities to enjoy a hard-fought battle for position in that way.

Another guy dominant in his sport is Sebastian Loeb. It is only in recent seasons that he has shown any spark of humanity, of fun: yet I didn't dislike him particularly. It was nice to see the underdog (i.e. everyone else) win against him, but it wasn't personal. Now he's relaxing a bit, with nothing else to prove, he's more jokey, showing his dry sense of humour, and he's actually becoming quite likeable; although, he'll go a long way to catch up with someone like Petter Solberg or Marcus Gronholm.

Yesterday - 30th June

Yesterday would have been Dad's birthday. Even though he was a really annoying person, and very hard to get through to (or get anything from) I still miss him. He enjoyed an audience, and liked to amuse, as I do. Is it my imagination, but When I look in the mirror, I see him more and more. Odd. I didn't think I looked anything like him, but there are some similarities creeping in. Maybe I am imagining it. D says I have some similar habits, such as having a load of stuff (books, remote controls, etc.) easily to hand on the table beside my usual spot on the sofa.