On the Road Again!

We are booked on the Irish Ferries service from Calais at 1235pm on the last day of the trip.  When we came back from France last October, we stayed in the Camping-Car Park aire in Calais . It's a large area with 102 pitches. It's perfectly placed for a walk along the seafront after arrival and close to the ferry port. I have pre-booked it. It's a long way off but it will be July and aires get quite full.  Including local tourist taxes it is €17.50 for the night. When you book they expect you to enter an arrival time. In the past they didn't have to.  So as we need to be at the ferry port around 1100am at the latest, I have booked for an arrival time the day before at 1200.  And to cover our butts, a leaving time of 1100am. So that's another booking sorted.

Did I mention that Arsenal are the Premier League Champions 2025/26 with a game to spare? Perhaps I am too humble... I have bought an official t-shirt on pre-order from the Official Arsenal site, but wanted something a little quicker, at least before I go on holiday. So, I bought this. Unofficial Champions t-shirt. Hopefully this will arrive before we go away 

I thought I would invest in a t-shirt to mark the occasion. Proper Adidas football shirts (they are NOT jerseys!) are eye wateringly expensive. This one, an official product is £22.50.... They are all on pre-order and so I expect it will arrive when I am on holiday! Offical Product!

Pathway 4G and Mobile WIFI For a while we have struggled with wifi whilst away in the van.  It seems to have got worse more recently, and this may coincide with trading the motorhome for a campervan. Whilst the motorhome was also a big box on wheels, it was generally wood and fibreglass. Where the campervan is a metal box with a few holes for windows and doors. It's effectively a Faraday Cage that blocks the signal to the phone.  A few years ago when still at work and we had company mobile phones, there was a worry that they could be hacked and we were given phone cases that were Faraday Cages.  They worked. Phone inside and there was no signal and so it didn't ring. It worked very well. The idea of the Pathway 4G is that it uses a SIM card and is a router.  I ordered a Lebara SIM for the router. Lebara use the Vodafone network in the UK. I have my doubts about that as we had Vodafone before and it was terrible at home. Photo from Belmont Leisure linked website Am...

 When we were kids, my school friends Martin Oakley and Alec Jackson and I used to walk home from school. It wasn't far but as 9 year olds we were supposed to get the bus.  Some days we'd meander home via the River Erk and mess about along the water's edge or climb the sandy "cliff" above the flowing water. It was always a laugh if someone got a "booty". To us that was getting a wet foot. We didn't wear boots, but you get the idea. This was Chadderton in Lancashire. It was 1964. Other days Alec and I would walk home. Martin lived in the opposite direction from school. Firstly, we went to St Matthew's Infant School, and across the road, Chadderton Hall Junior School. By 1964 we were at the junior school.  On some of the days we walked home, we'd spend our bus fare, sixpence. Before decimalisation pence! That's 2½p in the decimal money we use today. We'd either buy sweets in the parade of shops not far from Alec's house. Or we would...