First off the grammatically revised edition of my free ebook Rebels has been uploaded to Smashwords which will hopefully cause slightly less angst for strict grammarians and embarrassment for me. Unfortunately there isn't a prize for spotting any mistakes as my bank account won't run to that. Despite kicking off the weekend by winning the Euromillions lottery.
I was going to say but then again £3.10 ($4.80) is hardly a life changing amount of money but that wouldn't be strictly true. After all its just over half-a-weeks wages for the 2.8 billion people who survive on less than $2 a day and pretty much a week's wage for the 1.2 billion people who survive on less than a $1 a day. So as with so many other things in life I guess it's a case of perspective. Its sometimes easy to forget just how lucky you are to have been born in one of the richest countries in the world, even if you're not one of the richest people in that country.
Things moved up a gear on Saturday when by oldest daughter found a drunken intruder in her garden at 3am in the morning. Who managed to get into a fight with her peg bag and garden furniture before trying (unsuccessfully) to gain entry to her flat. The police response couldn't be faulted they were on the scene in a couple of minutes and swiftly dealt with the situation. It turned out the 'offender' was known to them and was nothing more sinister than someone who was so drunk he'd forgotten where he lived. According to the police it's a surprisingly common occurrence and makes up a significant portion of the incidents they are called out to deal with. Steps have now been taken to upgrade her garden security and prevent a repeat of the incident.
Once that was dealt with we were off to the Cats Protection League with our rescue dog Elsa. Which is not as bizarre as it sounds. The kids have wanted a cat for some time now so this was a controlled introduction to see how the cat they have chosen would react to our dog and visa versa. We're picking the cat up later today, so we'll see where things go from there.
Finally I've saved the best till last. The first ever reunion of the class of 72, most of whom I hadn't meet since we all left school in 77 and went our separate ways. It was a fantastic bash and there's talk of making it an annual event. It's been amazing effort by those involved setting up a facebook group, spending months tracking people down and putting in countless hours to organise the event. Not to mention raising a significant amount of cash for the British Stroke Association. My apologies to anyone who recognised me whose name eluded me on the night.
It's probably hard for anyone whose grown up in the digital age to realise what an achievement organising this event was. We started school three years after the first Apollo moon landing and when we left there no Internet/Worldwide Web, email or mobile phones. No Skype, facebook or a hundred and one other things we all take for granted to keep us in touch 24/7 at the push of a button or swipe of a touchscreen.
But then again we were always were an amazing bunch of kids who've grown up to be a wonderfully diverse and successful bunch of adults despite our humble beginnings (or perhaps because of them?) in an inner city comprehensive school. Swimmers, footballers, crickets, mayors, you name it we've done it, been there and got the t-shirt to prove it. We were our schools golden year. The first intake of pupils to enter a brand new building and emerge the other end ready for adult life. Sadly Ladywood Comprehensive School closed in the 80's and became a leisure centre.
It's ironic that as we celebrated our first ever reunion the school now stands derelict, awaiting demolition. Still, you can take the 'comp' out of Ladywood, but you'll never take the 'comp' out of us...