This book has been sitting in the ‘to-be-done’ tray, so this month it is going to get the second revision and release to beta readers.
…
Facing the music
…
With the altercation at the bar spreading like fire through a tinder-dry forest, our boy goes home to see Darcy.
Yes, she already knew what was going on, and no she’s not happy, and yes, she is overjoyed that our boy will be marrying Emily.
Talk about mercurial relatives.
Then there’s that little gathering that Darcy has arranged where he can get roasted for his sins.
And from one person in particular, Xavier, who positively hates her and all her friends.
Like our boy, he had been treated badly by the girl and her friends, and having someone who was her friend wasn’t going to improve his lot. But he did agree to be the best man.
It was not going to be a late night.
The next morning there’s a mission, he has to go and see shotgun Annie.
Yes, you heard it right, shotgun Annie.
Tim’s staunchest female ally, but there is a problem. Just another of many he has to get past.
This book has been sitting in the ‘to-be-done’ tray, so this month it is going to get the second revision and release to beta readers.
…
Facing the music
…
With the altercation at the bar spreading like fire through a tinder-dry forest, our boy goes home to see Darcy.
Yes, she already knew what was going on, and no she’s not happy, and yes, she is overjoyed that our boy will be marrying Emily.
Talk about mercurial relatives.
Then there’s that little gathering that Darcy has arranged where he can get roasted for his sins.
And from one person in particular, Xavier, who positively hates her and all her friends.
Like our boy, he had been treated badly by the girl and her friends, and having someone who was her friend wasn’t going to improve his lot. But he did agree to be the best man.
It was not going to be a late night.
The next morning there’s a mission, he has to go and see shotgun Annie.
Yes, you heard it right, shotgun Annie.
Tim’s staunchest female ally, but there is a problem. Just another of many he has to get past.
This book has been sitting in the ‘to-be-done’ tray, so this month it is going to get the second revision and release to beta readers.
…
A chat with Fred
…
The search for Tim was going to be through a baptism of fire. Our boy had to go through his friends to find him.
And Tim’s friends were as belligerent as Tim was. And a friend of Tim was an enemy of our boys.
But, how hard can it be?
To start the quest, he gets another ride in the corporate jet and gets to work with his new PA, Guinevere. Oh, and did she say she used to work for Tim the Ungrateful?
Water under another bridge.
We touch down in town and there’s no time like the present to visit Fred, the staunchest of Tim’s allies, and the man who would know where he is.
With a mountain to climb, our boy goes into the bar where many a fight had played out badly, the bar that is renowned for the farm hands to let off steam.
Yes, there is a fight.
But for a long time our boy has been hiding a talent his father advised him never to use.
Pity this was the time or place.
And Fred discovers, what he always suspected, they had always been allowed to win.
This book has been sitting in the ‘to-be-done’ tray, so this month it is going to get the second revision and release to beta readers.
…
A chat with Fred
…
The search for Tim was going to be through a baptism of fire. Our boy had to go through his friends to find him.
And Tim’s friends were as belligerent as Tim was. And a friend of Tim was an enemy of our boys.
But, how hard can it be?
To start the quest, he gets another ride in the corporate jet and gets to work with his new PA, Guinevere. Oh, and did she say she used to work for Tim the Ungrateful?
Water under another bridge.
We touch down in town and there’s no time like the present to visit Fred, the staunchest of Tim’s allies, and the man who would know where he is.
With a mountain to climb, our boy goes into the bar where many a fight had played out badly, the bar that is renowned for the farm hands to let off steam.
Yes, there is a fight.
But for a long time our boy has been hiding a talent his father advised him never to use.
Pity this was the time or place.
And Fred discovers, what he always suspected, they had always been allowed to win.
This book has been sitting in the ‘to-be-done’ tray, so this month it is going to get the second revision and release to beta readers.
…
Another request
…
This requests that people ask of you, and in the same breath tell you they will not think less of you if you don’t want to do it … if you say no, you might as well jump out of the frying pan and into the fire and get it over with.
The grandmother is not a woman to say no to, even if it’s an order to jump off a cliff. Before she was dying, our boy would have been terrified of her, as would anyone between the ages of 1 and 100.
Now she is, there had to be a limit on the number of deathbed wishes she could ask.
But, irrespective of what the readers may think, our boy knows he’s doing this for the greater good, that it’s Emily’s grandmother, and she would ask him to do anything impossible.
Would she?
Of course, she would.
What’s the one thing he would not want to do?
Find Tim and bring him back so that she can see him one more time before she dies.
Of course, it doesn’t help that Tim despises her as much as everyone else in his family, and most of all, our boy.
And unfortunately, this cannot be put into the too-hard basket.
This book has been sitting in the ‘to-be-done’ tray, so this month it is going to get the second revision and release to beta readers.
…
Another request
…
This requests that people ask of you, and in the same breath tell you they will not think less of you if you don’t want to do it … if you say no, you might as well jump out of the frying pan and into the fire and get it over with.
The grandmother is not a woman to say no to, even if it’s an order to jump off a cliff. Before she was dying, our boy would have been terrified of her, as would anyone between the ages of 1 and 100.
Now she is, there had to be a limit on the number of deathbed wishes she could ask.
But, irrespective of what the readers may think, our boy knows he’s doing this for the greater good, that it’s Emily’s grandmother, and she would ask him to do anything impossible.
Would she?
Of course, she would.
What’s the one thing he would not want to do?
Find Tim and bring him back so that she can see him one more time before she dies.
Of course, it doesn’t help that Tim despises her as much as everyone else in his family, and most of all, our boy.
And unfortunately, this cannot be put into the too-hard basket.
This book has been sitting in the ‘to-be-done’ tray, so this month it is going to get the second revision and release to beta readers.
…
It’s one thing to propose …
…
It was another thing entirely to try to apply the brakes on a runaway train.
That whole proposal, saying yes, and finally breathing again thing was probably the second most momentous event in his life, when taken in order.
The first, graduating with the best possible scores was the first, the reward for a lot of hard work, even if he still didn’t know what he wanted to do.
The second, sharing that life with Emily had come to fruition, against all hopes.
He didn’t think he would be able to top it. Yet.
There’s the wedding, and everything that goes with it, except in this instance, there was not going to be enough time to plan the Hollywood-style wedding that befitted the billionaires that would be attending.
Certainly, it would be the social event of the calendar back home.
So, there was going to be a small event at the hospital for the grandmother to attend, then a later big bash for everyone else.
It was just a matter of keeping it a secret until then.
This book has been sitting in the ‘to-be-done’ tray, so this month it is going to get the second revision and release to beta readers.
…
It’s one thing to propose …
…
It was another thing entirely to try to apply the brakes on a runaway train.
That whole proposal, saying yes, and finally breathing again thing was probably the second most momentous event in his life, when taken in order.
The first, graduating with the best possible scores was the first, the reward for a lot of hard work, even if he still didn’t know what he wanted to do.
The second, sharing that life with Emily had come to fruition, against all hopes.
He didn’t think he would be able to top it. Yet.
There’s the wedding, and everything that goes with it, except in this instance, there was not going to be enough time to plan the Hollywood-style wedding that befitted the billionaires that would be attending.
Certainly, it would be the social event of the calendar back home.
So, there was going to be a small event at the hospital for the grandmother to attend, then a later big bash for everyone else.
It was just a matter of keeping it a secret until then.
This book has been sitting in the ‘to-be-done’ tray, so this month it is going to get the second revision and release to beta readers.
…
A rather odd request
…
How many people have been in limbo, wondering whether the last conversation was actually the last conversation?
Relationships that are in the early stages are always on a knife edge.
The boy knows that it’s possible this relationship has a use-by date, that while the father seems to think his daughter is benefitting from them being together, it might just be possible to spend some time with the girl of his dreams.
What will happen when reality sets in?
It seems the father of the girl is impressed with the boy and asks to meet him, but once again the PA is sent to fetch him. Since it is her father our boy makes an exception.
Wondering what he wants…
It seems she wants to start a proper charity foundation and run it. Of course, being so young she cannot start at the top, so she has to learn the ropes, so to speak. And he knows the boy does charity work.
We all know what that means, taking the once spoilt brat to a place where people would judge her for what she was, not entirely because she’s from a rich family, but more because of the fact she was, and maybe still is a brat?
For the first time on this trip, we encounter problems with Chinese officialdom at the railway station, though we were warned that this might occur.
We had a major problem with the security staff when they pulled everyone over with aerosols and confiscated them. We lost styling mousse, others lost hair spray, and the men, their shaving cream. But, to her credit, the tour guide did warn us they were stricter here, but her suggestion to be angry they were taking our stuff was probably not the right thing to do.
As with previous train bookings, the Chinese method of placing people in seats didn’t quite manage to keep couples traveling together, together on the train. It was an odd peculiarity which few of the passengers understood, nor did they conform, swapping seat allocations.
This train ride did not seem the same as the last two and I don’t think we had the same type of high-speed train type that we had for the last two. The carriages were different, there was only one toilet per carriage, and I don’t think we were going as fast.
But aside from that, we had 753 kilometers to travel with six stops before ours, two of which were very large cities, and then our stop, about four and a half hours later. With two minutes this time, to get the baggage off the team managed it in 40 seconds, a new record.
After slight disorientation getting off the train, we locate our guide, easily found by looking for the Trip-A-Deal flag. From there it’s a matter of getting into our respective groups and finding the bus.
As usual, the trip to the hotel was a long one, but we were traveling through a much brighter, and well lit, city.
As for our guide, we have him from now until the end of the tour. There are no more train rides, we will be taking the bus from city to city until we reach Shanghai. Good thing then that the bus is brand new, with that new car smell. Only issue, no USB charging point.
The Snowy Sea hotel.
It is finally a joy to get a room that is nothing short of great. It has a bathroom and thus privacy.
Everyone had to go find a supermarket to purchase replacements for the confiscated items. Luckily there was a huge supermarket just up from the hotel that had everything but the kitchen sink.
But, unlike where we live, the carpark is more of a scooter park!
It is also a small microcosm of Chinese life for the new more capitalistic oriented Chinese.
The next morning we get some idea of the scope of high-density living, though here, the buildings are not 30 stories tall, but still just as impressive.
These look like the medium density houses, but to the right of these are much larger buildings
The remarkable thing about this is those buildings stretch as far as the eye can see.
Thrills, Spills, and just a dash of Romance 