In bed at 3.20 AM and up at 7.20 AM, the palaver of breakdowns in cars and computers had me both up late and up early. We had to get to the storage house in Wells an hour away and continue with the task we had started. Yesterday Olivia and I were making progress moving equipment from downstairs to upstairs so we could lower the storage bill as we try and figure out what to do with the issues involved with shipping everything to Portugal. Today we had no car, so Boydy and I drove to the storage to continue what we had started whilst Olivia stayed behind and attempted to unravel the mess. Thanks to Boydy for jumping into the dilemma we had, in fact, looking at the task in hand with moving heavy amps and road cases, archive shelving and more records from downstairs to upstairs, Olivia and I would have struggled, with the weight, the time and the stairs. Boydy and I arrived at the storehouse at 10 AM and at 2 PM Dare arrived to help too and we were able to make great progress in the task at hand and doing our best to destroy our backs.

As it happened I’m not sure we would have managed without the help. Isn’t it interesting when one disaster leads to you being saved from the trouble you didn’t know that you would have later? Why were we even in the storage house doing this? Well, with the whole archive move being thrown up in the air…again, I decided that I would try and consolidate the storage areas (there were three) to cut down the monthly cost. So, the plan was to take one of the two storage spaces taken up downstairs upstairs and add it to that space, stacking it higher and wiping out the cost of that space (ya follow?). What a job, luckily I am Tetris man and with the help, progress was being made as I slashed my calf on the side of a speaker stand.

Oh, the storage, the records, the amps and the guitars, the books and the lava lamps. As we moved things I kept thinking about how wonderful it would be to one day have this whole situation solved, set up, paid for and up and running, wandering between the record shelves, picking out amazing records and playing them over the speakers in the cafe above.

In three roadcases, there are three Rickenbacker Transonic speaker cabinets, brand new from the sixties, generously given to me by Rickenbacker thirty years ago. I would love to have classics like this displayed, used and replaced when they were needed in the studio, but back on display when they are not being used. The same with the sixties Vox AC 30s. I‘d like to have all my guitars hanging from the walls so people could see them and like in a zoo when an animal is temporarily away, in the hospital or not in its space, a small sign: “In use, returning shortly”.

Dare came back to the Boydie’s house with us and stayed the night, good to see him since then. I was in Trevor’s car on the hour trip home, I was so tired and hurting, I was fighting my eyelids, trying to stay awake and as we got close to the house they closed. Unfortunately, we were arriving and I was awoken from a sleep I didn’t have, I imagined that this was what torturers do to you. Trish cooked another amazing meal.

Ariel sat forlornly in the lay-by next to Boydy’s driveway, waiting to be taken to the garage on Friday. At this point, we have no idea whether she can be rescued, whether the problem is big or small, or whether it will be expensive or reasonable. The anxiety is running high because we live in PORTUGAL! On top of it all, I have to be there in Porto next Friday for an immigration interview. If she can’t get fixed quickly, I will be flying home and Olivia will have to drive all that way by herself…please no.

Music today was Kraftwerk – The Man-Machine (1978). We could have done with some robots to help us.

Music Of The Daze