Picking my Piece

Picking my Piece ©

By Michael Casey

I haven’t written a new piece for a while, I got side-tracked with a bit of sudden angina, where that came from I don’t know. It was as sudden as waking up with Arthur, no there was no man in my bed, I’m not like that. I mean arthritis, which arrived just as suddenly and unwantedly.

So I had a rest from the writing and didn’t feel like writing something comical, I had an idea or two for a more serious piece, but I remember what a reader at the hotel once said, my series pieces are not as interesting for a passing reader.

So what should I write about? I thought “Who am I to judge?” was a good title, but 70 year old virgins dictating to the real world was/is more tragic than comic. I could have used the title to write about prejudice, I don’t like him because he’s too tall, I cannot abide tall people.

I just detest people with a common accent, I am from Birmingham, so that would have made everybody laugh. Though in fact I have a posh Birmingham accent, or even no accent at all, as I had to speak clearly for my Shanghai wife. Judge for yourselves at www.michaelgcasey.typepad.com to hear my audio.

Then I could say I detest smokers, and I really do, I’m making no joke now. If anybody walks past me with a fag in their hands it makes my chest hurt, literally, so I really DO hate smokers. So is that a prejudice, or common sense. I remember the smokers room in my mum’s house, it was like treacle or honey if you touched the ceiling. Or at a bad restaurant where the tables are not cleaned, don’t get me started on restaurant practices.

I’m more careful now about things, everything in general now, as I grow older and closer to the exit, I am less tolerant of things, I have not mellowed. What you may ask, and my answer is that I’ll just vote with my feet.

I was talking about picking my piece and I’ve strayed into not holding my peace. I suppose having two young daughters has turned me into Attila the Hun as far as their safety and wellbeing is concerned. Phones are a real Godsend, especially if you are on a cheap tariff like Lyca mobile because calls between phones on the same network are free. So I can keep an eye on my daughters from afar.

Back to my piece, I hope our grass dustbin is emptied in the morning as I tidied up the front garden by cutting everything back, so there is nothing left. It’s all in the garden waste bin so I want the bin men to take it away. Then in the Spring I’ll have a brand new garden display, in the Spring there will be growth as Chany Gardinier might say, if you remember Being There.

So I could write about films, they are such a great family thing in our house, we watch films together at the weekend, we might save up a few films on the Sky+ box and then watch them. No we don’t have the movie channels, but there are 15+ other film channels, 315 to 328 and other numbers. Sounds like picking from a Chinese takeaway menu, which makes us smile, as the wife is a Shanghai girl.

I could talk about antiviruses 360 Total Security is a Chinese one which is free, and there is a browser too, based on Google Chrome. Have a look at it for yourself, the tidy up feature is good, but be careful, otherwise give it a whirl. There are also free Kindle ebooks that you can get too, some are 0p, totally free so you could download them for your teenage daughters.

So I haven’t really decided what to talk about, so I’m talking around in circles, and that’s the important bit, I’m talking to you, I’m not really writing, I’m talking. I hope you all spot the difference. I need to get a magnifying glass so I can read the Alistair Cooke book, the print is just so small. He talked and talked well, if only I could be Postcard from Birmingham with Michael Casey. 

Now that would be perfect peace for me.