This is a sad-but-true story,so pay attention back there in the cheap seats.
My good friend has now had it confirmed that he has circa ten months to live. Cancer has just ripped its way through him. Several operations,lots of chemo,organs removed,liver cut away,bags to pee in,all that-and STILL that bastard illness is winning. Now,Chris & I have shared many times. We ran trucks to Russia when it was PROPER dangerous,often fighting off bandits in the remote areas,regularly firearms were produced. Chris is still,even now,around 22 stone of muscle,I’m no titch myself,we’d wade in,it really was ‘kill-or-be-killed’ SO bloody often. The Russian authorities did sfa,the Belarussians ditto,the Baltic States said it “Wasn’t their problem” So we kept on trucking,kept chatting on CB radios,often warning/being warned by other truckers on CB,of various danger-spots.
Now…yesterday I was at Chris’s home-he lives alone,with just Tom,his pooch,for ‘family’. His boiler has been playing up-and due to his medical situation,he was ‘elevated’ to top of the list regarding repairs/maintenance-oh,how VERY good of them.
Ok-nothing particularly spellbinding yet…BUT…we were talking of those times,the wild fights we had with bandits out in the forests toward Perm,as the boiler bloke was working,stripping bits out.
The fellow sorting Chris’s boiler-a youngster who looked about twelve-suddenly piped up from where he’d got various boiler parts strewn “Those CB’s you two are talking about…are they like those tape cassette player things my granddad listens to?” Ohhhhh,shit. Y’know-you really don’t appreciate just how fast,or how MUCH,this world has changed in the last 25 years,until a thing like that happens. Chris & I just sat there,in the kitchen,staring at each other,dumbfounded. I actualy nipped home [just a few hundred yards] to fetch the little tyke one of my CB radios to look at. A Binatone 144 channel ssb,of which we both spent several minutes explaining and extolling the virtues…and the little git got out his poxy SAMSUNG and said “Yebbut,this takes photos and videos AND gets me on the net-your radio can’t do that!” Oh,ffs. “No-but my CAMERA can-and BETTER ones,as it’s designed to do exactly that!”…at which point Chris showed him some photos-PROPER photos,of us in Moscow,St Petersburg & Perm. Ok,he made the right noises-but his MAIN interest was “What’s the wifi like in Moscow-can you get a signal?” Y’know,just sometimes,the urge to strangle surges…
oh-hello RJ,by the way…your paranoia’s showing,m’main man…