15 March 2019 (Friday) - Raspberry Farming in Kosovo


I slept like a log; eventually waking five minutes before the alarm was due to go off. As I scoffed my granola I watched last night’s episode of “Still Game” before sparking up my lap-top for a look-see at the Internet. Facebook seems to have recovered from its hiccup earlier in the week, and people were once more using it to transmit to the world. Petty triviality, holiday snaps and (unfortunately) hatred were posted in varying amounts.
And with only one email in my inbox I set off to work

As I drove to work the pundits on the radio were talking about the utter debacle that is Brexit. With the Prime Minister's plans having been laughed out of Parliament for the second time and the possibility of a second referendum now seemingly dead in the water, the plan is now to ask the EU for a deferment of Brexit.
Why?
With no plans at all (and no hope of any) the UK should e6ither leave the EU without a deal right now (and lose Northern Ireland), or give up on the whole sorry idea. Demonstrably there are no other alternatives.
There was also talk about thousands of school children walking out of their lessons today. They are apparently having a strike in protest about the global climate change catastrophe. Whilst I sympathise with the sentiment, how many are *really* walking out for environmental reasons, and how many know a good skive when they see one?

My journey to work was rather different today. Usually when seconded to Tunbridge Wells I drive along the A262, then up the A21. However there are often delays at Goudhurst when long lorries get stuck at the double bend by Goudhurst church. Finding myself behind such a lorry as I drove in to Goudhurst this morning, I turned right to take the back road in to work via Horsmonden. Avoiding the stuck lorry and the queues on the A21 I got to work half an hour earlier than I had planned, and I had time to find a geocache (that I have previously failed to find) as well. It was one that hadn't been found in over a year - another resuscitation. Happy dance.

As I walked in to work half an hour earlier than planned I could smell the cooked breakfast that had been prepared in the canteen. So I went for a quick fry-up. Very tasty.

At tea break I got talking with a colleague. She is leaving work in the next few weeks. She is jacking it all in to become a raspberry farmer in Kosovo. This made me look back on my life. I *could* have been a policeman. I *could* have owned a restaurant on Hastings sea front. I *could* have gone to Antarctica with the British Antarctic Survey. I *could* have gone to St. Helena for half a year.
Don't get me wrong - my life isn't bad. But sometimes I do wonder what it might have been... And is it too late to become a Kosovan raspberry farmer?

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