I was just talking to one of the painters working on the house here and learned that he's done all sorts of interesting jobs:
He's painted the royal throne … actually, he decorated the bathroom of the royal box at one of the race-courses here … and is proud that he was first to sit on the queen's new toilet.
He was working on Windsor Castle when it burst into flames - one of the cleaning ladies was cleaning a painting and then went for a cup of tea and left it too near a heater. Boom! One of the painter's friends saved a £3 million painting - he burnt his hands and had to be off work for six months but did the queen thank him? Oh no, not a word of thanks or a penny for his trouble!
The painter wallpapered the bedroom of some Arab sheikh who is big in race horses here. Each roll of wallpaper cost £4,000 … it was made by taking the hair from this chap's horses and weaving it into the paper, somehow. Apparently it was easy to put up and, when up, he just brushed it to make it look nice!
The painter also helped decorate the house of Formula 1 racer, Jodi Schechter. Jodi paid £15 million for the place and then spent another £15 million redecorating it. The bath in his wife's bathroom (not including taps, feet, surround … just the bare bath) cost £6,000. However, all that money did not make Jodi happy. Jodi's father, from South Africa, made his money from arms sales and, because of that background, Jodi lived his life in constant fear - he even had his children ferried to school, each day, in a black van with heavily tinted windows.
So, those of you desiring lots of money, beware! The money will not make you happy. Happiness comes from other places than our wallets, apparently! And guns won't save you either, it seems.
Though Arthur Bayly is starting to live his dream of a life like James Bond, it's not bringing him any happiness at all - just stress. Arthur's story continues from the previous blog ...
Having escaped his office, two heavies and two policemen, Arthur's brain was still in panic mode, conjuring up all sorts of consequences for Joan and him.
As these conflicting thoughts stampeded through his brain, battling with each other, he kept a wary eye on everyone in the carriage. Would James Bond have stood casually at the door, ready to leap off, or would he have sat down, mingling anonymously with the crowd. Yet another herd of thoughts charging round his brain.
"Hello mithter," said a small voice at his knee. He looked down and remembered the tousle-haired little girl who had offered him ice cweam in the park.
"Oh, hello, young lady," he said, "how are you today?"
"My mummy and me, we've just been to the shops to buy a gun," she said. Not quite panic but Arthur's heart leapt out of the carriage and back in again. He looked up and around and saw the girl's mother - Emily, was that her name? - smiling at him. She put her hand in a plastic shopping bag and pulled out a gun. Arthur flinched. It was a plastic water pistol … well, he hoped it was.
"Sorry to scare you, sir ... Arthur, wasn't it? She asked.
Arthur nodded, recovering his composure.
"We're off to a birthday party this afternoon for Chloe's cousin," said Emily. "He loves guns and this is the most inoffensive one I could find!"
"Yes, yes," said Arthur, acting more casual then he felt. "Boys do seem to like guns at that age, don't they."
"The last time I saw you, you were a very shaken hero," said Emily. "How have you been since then?"
"Oh good thank you," said Arthur, with his standard reply, and realised it wasn't strictly true. "Actually I've had quite some happenings of late - lost my job, my mother-in-law died, my son's wife left him, I got my job back, sort of ... yes, a few things and in only five days." He smiled at the memories as the film clip of those five days played themselves through his mind.
"My gosh!" Emily said. "You have been having a time of it! And how are you coping with it all?"
"Remarkably well, I thought," he said. "And how have you been?"
"Well, to be honest, not very good," she said gently. "Four days ago my father disappeared and nobody knows where he's gone ..."
"Your father? Gosh!" said Arthur, not knowing what else to say.
"Yes, we usually talk on the phone two or three times a week and he visits every few weeks," she said wistfully. "He's very busy as a director of an insurance company but he always makes time for Chloe and I."
"An insurance company?" asked Arthur quickly. "Not AIL is it?"
"Yes, that's his company! Do you know it ... or him?" asked Emily.
"Yes I do indeed!" said Arthur, forcing a smile. "I've worked for the company for twenty six years. Mr Lord, your father, was the one who gave me the ... who let me go, as they say."
"Oh dear, that must have been very hard for both of you," said Emily, looking concerned. Arthur had not considered that it would have been hard for Mr Lord.
"Do you have any idea where he could have gone?" asked Emily hopefully.
"Heavens no! No idea at all," said Arthur. "I thought he'd been sacked or made redundant or something. Seems like he just didn't turn up on Friday and I assumed he'd been asked to leave. Seems most strange."
"Oh dear, that makes it even worse," said Emily. "No one at all seems to know where he is. I've told the police and got what I thought was a rather cold reception from them. Just made it worse, really. I don't think anyone's looking for him."
"Oh dear, oh dear," said Arthur, finding himself at a loss with this tearful woman. "Would you and your daughter like to come back to our place for a cup of tea? It's a short walk and my wife is very good with things like this."
"Oh Arthur, that's very kind ... but I couldn't ..."
"Of course you can! I insist," said Arthur feeling unusually masterful. "A cup of tea and a nice chat might be just what you need."
"Well, if that's alright with you ..."
"Well," said Arthur, feeling a sense of mission rising in him. "Perhaps if we all put our thinking caps together, we can come up with something. You're not alone," he said, wishing someone would say that to him from time to time.
"Oh Arthur! You're a sweet man!" she exclaimed, loud enough for all the carriage to hear ... or so it seemed to Arthur. His extreme embarrassment was overshadowed by the approaching station, Croydon (although, as Arthur thought in a small part of his brain that wasn't trying to deal with his embarrassment, that station wasn't approaching at all. It wasn't going anywhere, the train was approaching it!).
As they walked up Addiscombe Road, Chloe skipped along between them and Arthur felt light. He hadn't been mugged on his way home by KGB agents and he would soon be in his familiar home with his familiar Joan and all the coziness and peace they evoked. Danger obviously added a poignancy to the people and things he cherished and, well, he might possibly do something to help someone else. He smiled at Emily who seemed to catch his mood and looked happier than when he first saw her on the train.
He's painted the royal throne … actually, he decorated the bathroom of the royal box at one of the race-courses here … and is proud that he was first to sit on the queen's new toilet.
He was working on Windsor Castle when it burst into flames - one of the cleaning ladies was cleaning a painting and then went for a cup of tea and left it too near a heater. Boom! One of the painter's friends saved a £3 million painting - he burnt his hands and had to be off work for six months but did the queen thank him? Oh no, not a word of thanks or a penny for his trouble!
The painter wallpapered the bedroom of some Arab sheikh who is big in race horses here. Each roll of wallpaper cost £4,000 … it was made by taking the hair from this chap's horses and weaving it into the paper, somehow. Apparently it was easy to put up and, when up, he just brushed it to make it look nice!
The painter also helped decorate the house of Formula 1 racer, Jodi Schechter. Jodi paid £15 million for the place and then spent another £15 million redecorating it. The bath in his wife's bathroom (not including taps, feet, surround … just the bare bath) cost £6,000. However, all that money did not make Jodi happy. Jodi's father, from South Africa, made his money from arms sales and, because of that background, Jodi lived his life in constant fear - he even had his children ferried to school, each day, in a black van with heavily tinted windows.
So, those of you desiring lots of money, beware! The money will not make you happy. Happiness comes from other places than our wallets, apparently! And guns won't save you either, it seems.
Though Arthur Bayly is starting to live his dream of a life like James Bond, it's not bringing him any happiness at all - just stress. Arthur's story continues from the previous blog ...
Having escaped his office, two heavies and two policemen, Arthur's brain was still in panic mode, conjuring up all sorts of consequences for Joan and him.
As these conflicting thoughts stampeded through his brain, battling with each other, he kept a wary eye on everyone in the carriage. Would James Bond have stood casually at the door, ready to leap off, or would he have sat down, mingling anonymously with the crowd. Yet another herd of thoughts charging round his brain.
"Hello mithter," said a small voice at his knee. He looked down and remembered the tousle-haired little girl who had offered him ice cweam in the park.
"Oh, hello, young lady," he said, "how are you today?"
"My mummy and me, we've just been to the shops to buy a gun," she said. Not quite panic but Arthur's heart leapt out of the carriage and back in again. He looked up and around and saw the girl's mother - Emily, was that her name? - smiling at him. She put her hand in a plastic shopping bag and pulled out a gun. Arthur flinched. It was a plastic water pistol … well, he hoped it was.
"Sorry to scare you, sir ... Arthur, wasn't it? She asked.
Arthur nodded, recovering his composure.
"We're off to a birthday party this afternoon for Chloe's cousin," said Emily. "He loves guns and this is the most inoffensive one I could find!"
"Yes, yes," said Arthur, acting more casual then he felt. "Boys do seem to like guns at that age, don't they."
"The last time I saw you, you were a very shaken hero," said Emily. "How have you been since then?"
"Oh good thank you," said Arthur, with his standard reply, and realised it wasn't strictly true. "Actually I've had quite some happenings of late - lost my job, my mother-in-law died, my son's wife left him, I got my job back, sort of ... yes, a few things and in only five days." He smiled at the memories as the film clip of those five days played themselves through his mind.
"My gosh!" Emily said. "You have been having a time of it! And how are you coping with it all?"
"Remarkably well, I thought," he said. "And how have you been?"
"Well, to be honest, not very good," she said gently. "Four days ago my father disappeared and nobody knows where he's gone ..."
"Your father? Gosh!" said Arthur, not knowing what else to say.
"Yes, we usually talk on the phone two or three times a week and he visits every few weeks," she said wistfully. "He's very busy as a director of an insurance company but he always makes time for Chloe and I."
"An insurance company?" asked Arthur quickly. "Not AIL is it?"
"Yes, that's his company! Do you know it ... or him?" asked Emily.
"Yes I do indeed!" said Arthur, forcing a smile. "I've worked for the company for twenty six years. Mr Lord, your father, was the one who gave me the ... who let me go, as they say."
"Oh dear, that must have been very hard for both of you," said Emily, looking concerned. Arthur had not considered that it would have been hard for Mr Lord.
"Do you have any idea where he could have gone?" asked Emily hopefully.
"Heavens no! No idea at all," said Arthur. "I thought he'd been sacked or made redundant or something. Seems like he just didn't turn up on Friday and I assumed he'd been asked to leave. Seems most strange."
"Oh dear, that makes it even worse," said Emily. "No one at all seems to know where he is. I've told the police and got what I thought was a rather cold reception from them. Just made it worse, really. I don't think anyone's looking for him."
"Oh dear, oh dear," said Arthur, finding himself at a loss with this tearful woman. "Would you and your daughter like to come back to our place for a cup of tea? It's a short walk and my wife is very good with things like this."
"Oh Arthur, that's very kind ... but I couldn't ..."
"Of course you can! I insist," said Arthur feeling unusually masterful. "A cup of tea and a nice chat might be just what you need."
"Well, if that's alright with you ..."
"Well," said Arthur, feeling a sense of mission rising in him. "Perhaps if we all put our thinking caps together, we can come up with something. You're not alone," he said, wishing someone would say that to him from time to time.
"Oh Arthur! You're a sweet man!" she exclaimed, loud enough for all the carriage to hear ... or so it seemed to Arthur. His extreme embarrassment was overshadowed by the approaching station, Croydon (although, as Arthur thought in a small part of his brain that wasn't trying to deal with his embarrassment, that station wasn't approaching at all. It wasn't going anywhere, the train was approaching it!).
As they walked up Addiscombe Road, Chloe skipped along between them and Arthur felt light. He hadn't been mugged on his way home by KGB agents and he would soon be in his familiar home with his familiar Joan and all the coziness and peace they evoked. Danger obviously added a poignancy to the people and things he cherished and, well, he might possibly do something to help someone else. He smiled at Emily who seemed to catch his mood and looked happier than when he first saw her on the train.
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