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A Taste of summer
A Taste of summer. Copyright © 2009 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. We had to get up at six am to go and perform a kids exchange at St Louis, a round trip of 460 miles.
Most of the trip was spent driving through a light mist. About 100 miles from Springfield the skies cleared and the sun shone, the car’s air conditioner was exercised, and once we got near home ice cream cones were bought.
Around town the road side temperature displays were reading 77°F (25°C), so as soon as the car was unloaded, I put on my shorts, dragged the cushions out of the shed and got some well earned rest in the garden.
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Research
Research. Copyright © 2009 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Having wasted most of my day on Flickr-y things like slimming down my sets, adding new sets ready for the new year, and other general housekeeping, I decided I needed to keep Ginger company, and ended up sitting on the sofa researching whisky (in the glass) and double decker buses (on the Internet) while Ginger researched wedding dresses, whisky, and took her own picture for the day.
The peace was only broken when I exclaimed “Well bugger me!” upon realizing I’d accidentally managed to bag a FUTAB as well. For some reason Ginger found this statement amusing.
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The first ‘another day’ of the year
The first ‘another day’ of the year. Copyright © 2009 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. A new project for 2009?
I gave up on my second year of 365 days sometime in August last year; I still haven’t got round to posting all the outstanding pictures, and anyway taking self-portraits every day had become boring, all I was doing was dashing off any old picture just to get it over with. But I missed it too, so I’ve decided to try another project – a picture a day for a year. We’ll see how far I get.
The day started badly with me still overcome by vodka from the new year celebrations. Ginger’s family arrived early and it was only after a shower and some coffee that I became vaguely human.
Typically I missed my big photographic opportunity for the day, which was having lunch out with Ginger, Ginger’s parents, brother, and niece. I then spent the rest of the day vegetating on Flickr and Facebook until I was asked to ‘strip off’ (hence the robe) so that my posterior could be immortalized on Flickr. I guess I shouldn’t complain as Ginger’s picture made Explore.
Day two doesn’t bode any better either, as here I sit sorting pictures and uploading them when I should be out taking pictures or doing something constructive like building bookshelves. Ho hum.
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Swiss Navy Knife
Swiss Navy Knife. Copyright © 2008 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Yesterday I was unable to enter a building because I was carrying this knife. I don’t have a problem with that, I’m just not used to having to go through security when entering an office.
It surprises a lot of people that land-locked Switzerland has a navy and that there is a Swiss navy knife.
This knife has proved to be one of the most practical knives I’ve owned. Because of its nautical applications it has two tools most knives don’t. A marlinespike and a shackle spanner, both of which have been used much more often than you’d expect. Surprisingly, despite its age (I must have owned it for at least 15 years), it still has the tweezers and toothpick, both of which have seen a fair bit of use. The only part of this knife that I am disappointed with is the blade, it’s very thin, serrated, and doesn’t hold an edge for long.
Updates
2020: The fact that I still have this knife is surprising and down to the bright orange lanyard. In 2010, I lost it late in the evening in six feet of water in Table Rock Lake. The next day, I returned and snorkeled for it, and luckily, I found it almost immediately. That was because I took a couple of transits from where I lost it, which allowed me to locate where I dropped it, and even though the knife was buried in the silt, the orange lanyard was easy to spot floating just above the bottom.
2025: And it’s still going strong! By my reckoning, that makes it over thirty years old now. It has a new lanyard now, but despite trying other knives, this knife remains my ‘go to’ backpacking knife. It still has the tweezers and toothpick, and the serrations on the blade are no longer an issue, as repeated sharpening over the years has all but removed them.
I recently found the latest version of this knife, officially called the Victorinox Skipper, on the Victorinox website, the knife’s serrations no longer run the entire length of the blade, the marlin spike looks to be a tad shorter, and some very basic pliers have been added.
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Stored
Stored. Copyright © 2008 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Today we finally got round to putting my empty suitcases away in the shed. A simple job with a profound meaning.
Update
2019. The brown case was a wedding gift from my first marriage, part of a suite of luggage given by my work colleagues. I’ve only just realized that somewhat ironic connection.
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The last lap (part two)
Welcome. Copyright © 2008 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Ginger, Katie and Lanie were at the airport to meet me when I arrived at Springfield. Because my bags were coming in on a later flight we didn’t have to hang around waiting and could go straight home.
It was good to be back, I haven’t been here for eight months. All too quickly we had to head out to the airport again to pick up my luggage. We arrived to find the ‘plane had come in early, and the baggage collection area empty. A quick visit to the check-in desk was all that was needed to re-unite me with my clothes for the next few months and all my personal papers.
I kept my eyes open as long as possible but by ten pm I was more than ready for some sleep. Well, maybe not quite straight away.
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The last lap
Final Approach to Springfield. Copyright © 2008 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. It is nine fifty-five pm in the UK and three fifty-five pm in Dallas. I got up at four am this morning to travel to Heathrow with my brother Ian driving and my eldest son Robert, coming along to see me off.
Now, eighteen hours later, I’m sitting in the Springfield bound plane at Dallas Fort Worth, waiting for the last of the passengers to board. I’ve managed to get an earlier flight out of Dallas, my bags will follow later, but that’s not an issue. If all goes well, I’ll be arriving one and a half hours earlier than planned.
Gary En-route to Springfield. Copyright © 2008 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. I feel like I have a nasty cold coming on, and none of this seems real at the moment.
The worst part of my trip was sitting waiting in the immigration area at Dallas Fort Worth while the official went through my visa file.
When I arrived at Dallas the airport was very quiet more like late at night or very early in the morning, and ours was the only international flight at that time. I had some help with the customs forms and followed the usual queue to immigration. It was only when I got to the front that I realized that they’d swapped around the US and foreign queues since my last visit and I had accidentally gone through the US Nationals’ queue. Fortunately, no one seemed to mind. I went through the normal fingerprint and picture procedure and handed my visa envelope over to the officer, who was chatty and friendly. He asked me to follow him to immigration – which was just a seated area at the end of the arrivals hall. I was the only person there.
The officer gave my file to an immigration official who seemed to take forever reading my stack of papers; though it was probably only 10-15 minutes. He appeared to be very meticulous and scratched his head from time to time. I was terrified he’d find something wrong with the paperwork and send me back.
Finally, he called me over, and he asked who Ginger’s father was; he asked when we were getting married “February 20th” and he then checked the dates and told me we have to be married by the 26th so we were cutting it fine. He asked if Ginger had Children? “Yes, three.” Where were we going to live? I explained that we were staying in the US because of the children.
And then he stamped the papers and I knew it was going to be alright. He crossed out my K1 Visa, handed back my passport and said: “have a nice life.”
I was so relieved I could only mumble “Thank you, thank you very much…”
The advantage of being delayed at immigration was that my bags were already on the carousel. My customs papers had already been stamped by the Immigration Official, so there was no delay, I could go straight through. All I had to do then was re-check my bags, ‘Phone Ginger, get through security and onto the plane to Springfield and my new home.
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Still lots to do and a couple I’ll pass on, thank you…
This is one of those lists of things you should do / have done.
1. Started your own blog – Duh!
2. Slept under the stars – All the time when I can.
3. Played in a band. – Does working the mixer, providing sound effects and being a roadie count?
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower – My last one was the Persiedes on my second night with Ginger. August 2007.
6. Given more than you can afford to charity – No to my shame.
7. Been to Disneyland/world – Not one I want to do either. Sorry.
8. Climbed a mountain – A few big hills though.
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped – Think I might pass on this one.
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea. – long time ago when I had a yacht.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch – Drawing
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning. – After a British Airways flight from Mumbia (India)
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train – Hyderabad to Bangalore (India)
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill – Only once in my working career.
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping – Just try and stop me.
27. Run a Marathon – I’d like to try maybe a tenth of one?
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse – France 2000. I want to see more.
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run – Not my idea of fun
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community – I’ve seen lots of buggies, does that count?
36. Taught yourself a new language – Does pidgeon Italian count?
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke – On about the second or third day of a new job. Surprised I made it to the fourth day.
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight – Often, but almost always on my own.
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted. – My recent nude.
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain – With Ginger on June 22.
53. Played in the mud – What kid hasn’t.
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie – Tommy, along with most of the students in Portsmouth.
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business. – Four so far.
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching – This is a must.
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving – No, and this one is not on my list…
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy – Being shipped to the US right now.
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job – Not so far.
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper – I’m sure this has happened but I can’t remember. Been in quite a few trade mags.
85. Read the entire Bible – getting pretty close.
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox – Yes and I was thirty something at the time.
89. Saved someone’s life. – Twice. I pulled someone from a building that was on fire; restarted a girl’s breathing.
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one – Parents, Grand parents, aunts and uncles.
94. Had a baby – I contributed towards two. Does that count?
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee. -
Gary’s last day working at the University of Southampton
I ‘swipe’ into work for the final time. Copyright © 2008 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Today was my last day at the University of Southampton. This is what I said to my friends and colleagues.
We are here because of a dream, my family would say a mid-life crisis, and they are not far wrong, I just consider it more a mid-life review and re-planning exercise.
Dreams are strange things, when we are young we have such wonderful dreams for how our lives will play out, everything is black and white, and everything is possible. Then the reality checks set in, and we find that rather than being black and white, life tends to be a grey blur. Our dreams get buried under responsibilities and day-to-day trivia. Then over time they get forgotten and lost.
I forgot my dream. Then in 2006, I took up photography again, and in January 2007 took on a project to take a picture of myself every day for a year. I was shocked and appalled at what I saw – a miserable old sod, and I remembered my dream, realized I’d lost it, and vowed to do something about it.
Wow!!
Six months later I was getting divorced. While taking my pictures, I made lots of friends around the world, and I started exchanging e-mails with one person, in particular, discussing our pictures, and then our lives. Within 15 days of ever-increasing e-mails we realized that we were twins and meant to be together. We fell deeply in love via mail and phone, and decided to get married even before we met. Within seconds of meeting for the first time, we knew we were incredibly lucky to have found each other. We are two sides of the same coin.
So this move is not new to me, it’s been planned for the last eighteen months, ever since Ginger asked ‘how are we going to do this?’ and my answer was – ‘don’t worry honey, I’m a project manager… and sorting out problems is what I do.’
The schedule slipped a bit from the original plan. But we reviewed it in March and we have been spot on or ahead of schedule ever since. We have had huge hurdles to overcome, visas, children, families. Most of them are now sorted. but there are loads more still to come, but the good news is that we will get to face them together now.
The message I’d like to leave? Don’t forget your dreams.
That’s the end of the serious bit.
Over the last few days I’ve been musing on how you will all cope when I’ve gone.
- Who is going to run interference with the senior management and attend mind-numbingly boring meetings so that you can concentrate on your day jobs?
- Who will tell Susanne & Linda to go home?
- Who is Leo going to be able to shout at, who won’t (normally) take offense and turn round and slap him one?
- Who is going to try and steal resources from Beccy?
- Who is going to address Susanne by her proper, given name? And,
- Who is going to continue teaching her, by example, how to swear properly?
- Who is going to drive people nuts with pedantic critiques of the layout and grammar of reports and documents?
- Who is going to disrupt the office by sitting in the corner muttering and making distracting comments?
- Who is going to keep the Student Union shop going by buying flapjacks everyday?
And most importantly,
- Who will turn the meeting room lights off?
I’ve always been careful to keep my name badge out of pictures – no need anymore. Gary outside the Infamous University of Southampton Building 35. Copyright © 2008 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Of course, there are several advantages to my leaving:
For the next six months, I can be blamed for every lost e-mail and file, every project that starts to over-run, update that goes wrong and all the undocumented or mis-documented processes.
I will have mysteriously placed an order for 10 flatbed scanners delivered without document feeders, and I have probably unwittingly renewed Peter Sandholm’s contract for another 12 months.
After that, however, you are on your own.
Over the last eighteen months I’ve come to realise just how little we really know about each other, and in my case in particular, how little I knew about myself. I like to think of us as being like icebergs. There is only ever a very small proportion of our true selves showing. For example, I’m sure that only a very few of you know that a substantial number of my self-portraits are nudes. One of which was used for a drawing, which last night some friends presented a copy to me as a going-away present…
This is a time of rapid change, anxiety, and frustration, where tempers sometimes fray, it is good to remember how little we know about each other, and stop and remind ourselves that behind our colleagues’ work facing exteriors is a person just like us, with hopes, aspirations, fears and of course dreams.
So, be kind to each other and I’d like to say ‘thank you’ for how kind and helpful you have all been to me. It’s been a pleasure working with you all.
When I wrote my speech I didn’t know who my successor would be, but we do now, so I’d like to break with tradition and finish by giving her a gift…
The gift was a white pages telephone directory – an ‘in-joke’ within the team, which probably left my two bosses wondering what all the hilarity was about.
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Two-fifty
Two-fifty. Copyright © 2008 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Spotted during my wanderings around London.
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Missouri Angel
Missouri Angel Restaurant & Bar. Copyright © 2008 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Oh how I chuckled when I found this place,
it’s opposite the office block where I worked in 2000, in America Square. The fact that I discovered this bar on the day my American K1 Visa interview was held and approved at the American Embassy is quite auspicious.
Missouri Angel. Copyright © 2008 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Robert’s new flat
Family fun and games. Copyright © 2008 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Robert has moved into his own place
After a week’s delay, Friday night saw Robert borrowing my car to finally move out of the family home and into his own flat. Today Ian, Marcelle, and I got an invitation to visit.
It is a super little place, completely refurbished, nicely finished and with everything he needs. I remember from my younger days that the first thing to get wired in was the stereo. For Robert it is the games console.
Family fun and games. Copyright © 2008 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Family fun and games. Copyright © 2008 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Family fun and games. Copyright © 2008 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Family fun and games. Copyright © 2008 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Bedroom. Copyright © 2008 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Kitchenette. Copyright © 2008 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Kitchenette. Copyright © 2008 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Family fun and games. Copyright © 2008 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Gary By Nathan
Gary by Nathan Miller Copyright © 2008 Nathaniel Miller, all rights reserved. Back in August, I was asked if I would mind if one of my nude photographs was used for a drawing.
I don’t really understand why, but at first, I was very reluctant. I’ll admit that to be asked was flattering, I don’t think anyone has ever asked to draw me before (or since!). As my photographs are ‘out there’ for people to see, and the artist had taken the time to contact me, I thought it would be churlish to say no. I decided to keep quiet about it. My main concern was that I hadn’t seen any of the artist’s previous work.
I had no need to worry. The preliminary sketches were very good, so it was just a matter of waiting for the artist, Nathan to finish the piece.
Today I got an email and a link to the completed picture, and I was able to surprise Ginger with a link. So, Nathan, thanks for asking, and thank you for an excellent drawing.
Update: On November 20, 2008, a group of friends presented me with a copy of this drawing printed on canvas as a going-away present for my emigration to the US. I’m not sure how they got a hold of a copy of the original but I was quite touched.
Image Copyright © 2008 Nathaniel Miller, all rights reserved. You can see the original photograph here, and the drawing on Nathan’s website here.
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US Visa Application Forms (K1)
Proof of Posting Today I completed all my visa application forms.
I made loads of copies and posted it all off. Now all I’m waiting for is the date for my US Embassy interview.
I’ve all the papers I need for the interview and more besides.
Because of the downturn in the UK housing market, we decided not to rely on the equity in my house and my pensions as a financial guarantee, but have instead used Ginger and her parents as co-sponsors. That means we don’t have to worry about the sale of the house going through in time for the wedding, or that someone at the Embassy is going to decide we can’t fund ourselves.
As it turned out, the embassy was quite happy to accept my house as collateral. The house sale didn’t finally go through until mid-2009, and with the drop in the market at nowhere near what it should have raised – but enough to fund us for several years.
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Identity Crisis
More proof if I needed it that my family is awkward.
My mother’s Christian name is a little different, being a combination of two fairly common names into something a little more unusual. When Ginger was staying I told her the story of my mother’s name, producing my birth certificate with a flourish as proof. I had to eat my words when I saw my mother’s name wasn’t spelled the way I thought it should be. I made an excuse about the story behind her name obviously being a family myth.
Two months later and I’m filling in my US visa paperwork and I once more pull out my birth certificate to double check I’m getting my mother’s name right. At the same time I’m wondering how Ginger got it wrong on the form she completed as an example for me. So I checked the photograph I have of my mother’s grave, and found her name spelled differently, in fact spelled the way I always thought it should be…
I then checked her will and bank book which I still have. They all agreed on the spelling. But that isn’t how her name was spelled on my birth certificate, so which spelling is correct? It was time to call in help.
I ‘phoned my sister. She confirmed that the spelling on my birth certificate is the same as that on my mother’s passport and marriage certificate. Okay. So somehow it was wrong in her will, and that was how it got wrong on the gravestone; or was it? I asked Sis to check mother’s birth certificate, and the spelling there is the same as that on her will and gravestone.
So I had discovered that my mother’s name is spelled incorrectly on my birth certificate, and likewise on our parents’ marriage certificate.
At this point hysterics set in as I and my sister called each other illegitimate, a practice to be repeated later in the day when I caught up with my brother.
We will never know what happened. My mother registered my birth so we can’t blame our father for getting it wrong. Maybe she wanted it to match the name on their marriage certificate, or maybe, back in the days of manual typewriters she couldn’t be bothered to get the Registrar to re-type my birth certificate, or maybe she just didn’t notice. Further checks showed that her name is correct on my brother’s birth certificate. In the course of my investigations I found out my brother misspelled our father’s Christian name on his marriage certificate – D’oh!
So what did I put on the visa paperwork?
The name that appears on my birth certificate, as that is the only document I have that ties my mother’s name to me.
It is no wonder people have trouble investigating their family trees.
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A typical example
A typical example…
…of why everything takes so damned long.I scanned my Visa application instructions for Ginger, and so that a copy can be put on the www for others to see (the version online right now is out of date).
I had just finished when I realised the first page had all my personal details on it, and so I had to scan it all over again.
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Resignation
I have to give three months’ notice at work. So linking the end of my employment to having my US Visa is a nightmare. Despite all the warnings on the Visa paperwork not to do anything rash before one’s Visa is approved, I don’t have much choice but to second guess when the Visa will be sorted and resign.
With a planned travel date of 28 November, I put in my resignation today, giving me a final working date of Friday 21 November. That leaves me a week for any final preparations.
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My Little Car
My little blue car. Copyright © 2008 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. 
Gas – expensive stuff in the UK. Copyright © 2007 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Once petrol went over a £1 a litre I noticed an interesting phenomenon. Suddenly most of the big gas-guzzling SUVs, BMWs, Mercs and Audi’s et al started cruising at modest speeds in the inside lane leaving the fast lane free for nippy little compact cars like mine to zip along.
I’ve always thought SUVs were a half baked idea in a country where most people couldn’t find somewhere off-road that wasn’t a car park. So the fact they now have to pay excessive sums of money to keep the unnecessary things motoring amuses me. As for me, my little Fiat Punto gives me nigh on 500 miles from a tank of fuel, and I’m ashamed to say it but I also love the colour.
Confession: I guess I ought to admit it; I have previously owned two huge ‘his n hers’ Volvo saloons…
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Plans are afoot
With the possibility of the Visa being approved any day more and more likely we’ve been turning our thoughts to fixing a few dates.
- Leave the UK. Planned now for Friday, November 28 (Black Friday). It means I’ll miss Thanksgiving, but I will get a whole extra month’s pay. This should sync okay with the hoped-for start of November Visa issue date.
- Wedding. We have to get married within 3 months of my setting foot in the US, so after much debate in which we considered having a simple civil ceremony in December followed up by a celebration in the summer, and various other options, we decided to time it for the UK schools winter half term break. That should allow my family to attend if they want. So we now have set a provisional date of February 20 2009.
Having got dates we then entered into the world of wedding planning, where we have to think about such things as: how to accommodate potential visitors; what the weather might be like (anything from tee shirt to ice storm) and not least; what sort of ceremony / celebration we want. It took time but we’ve got the general idea fairly clear in our heads now and we’ve (well, Ginger) found some good resources on the Internet. I’ve started informing my friends and family what the dates might be, with an emphasis on the might. Until the visa comes through nothing is really certain.
One thing though, just making the plans makes it all feel even more real and increases the urgency. I want to be out of my apartment a month before I leave so that I know I’ve either got my things: on a boat to the US; in someone’s loft; or on a rubbish tip. It also means that I have to have all my mail forwarding etc. sorted out. All this to organise, and embassy and medical examinations to fit in and only six days vacation between now and then to do it. I do make challenging situations for myself.
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Keith’s Graduation
Gary, Keith and Robert I was deeply upset when I missed Robert’s graduation last year, but there was so much angst and animosity surrounding my separation from Elaine I just wasn’t welcome. At the time I tried to make up for it by helping out with Graduation at work, it didn’t really help and I felt very depressed.
So it was great to be able to go to Keith’s graduation and good that Robert could be there too. Because Robert couldn’t stay for the official photographs Elaine and I took some of the three of us. Someone offered to take a picture of us all, but Elaine said no thanks. I think that was a shame, and it was a pity she wouldn’t agree to an official picture of the three of us.Elaine has yet to come to terms with the fact that we are all still part of a family no matter what has transpired between us. We will need to work together on family issues at some point, and the sooner we adapt to that the better. I guess this might change slowly over time. we’ll see. However, I think it will be a shame that in 20 year’s time when Keith looks back at the day, that there isn’t a picture of us all together. We were all there. Maybe if Elaine had left me, I’d be reluctant to let her rejoin the family. I guess I’m just a delusional optimist to expect the family to be able to function again.
One of the advantages of being on the staff and involved in Graduation at Southampton was that I was able to get front-row seats for the ceremony. The disadvantage of having your son as a student at the university where you are working is that every now and then I’d get back to my car and discover it was filled with washing that needed to be done.
