Backend of a Heist #dreamdiary 209

I’m at a social club on a motorbike. I’ve had to buy tickets for my mother who wants to attend a charity quiz night. On the way home, I notice two teenagers on the dual carriageway who are also on motorbikes racing each other. I decide to catch up with them to see if I can beat them. There’s something happening as a lorry has pulled onto the hard shoulder and two cars are coming at me on the wrong side of the road. Once I’ve got around the hazards, I accelerate where the wind somehow catches up with me and lifts me up, and I manage to land in an adjacent field. My belongings are scattered about a bit, and I notice that the police have arrived to pick up bits of paper. Upon examining them, I realise that they’re £20 notes. I try and cram some into my wallet, then when I’m spotted gathering them up, I bring the ones that I’m holding in sight over to the police officer. 

Costa Luz

This seemed to be a restaurant of convenience rather than a specialised cuisine. It was on the rooftop of a block of bars and we were recommended to go there to keep things neighbourly, though many of the locals came from there for takeaway pizzas so that’s probably what we should have stuck to. We were slightly disappointed as we were hoping for something a bit more authentic since it was our first venture out of the all-inclusive hotel. Our paellas were well presented in skillets but looked a bit dry and didn’t seem to have any vegetable stock included. We also ordered a burger which came as a huge tower of food but looked slightly overdone. The garlic prawns were delicious but could have been bigger. The pizzas were nice and fresh which was the best part of the meal. We weren’t presented with a dessert menu; instead we got complimentary shots with lollies for the children (I’m guessing they wanted to call time on a late Thursday night).

Back to the Backpack #dreamdiary 208

I’m passing through some woods with a backpack. A lot of schoolchildren like to camp here with their friends and it’s my job to make sure that they’re OK. I call into a small tent with interconnecting entrance tunnels and a living quarters in the centre. A young girl is in the centre setting up her sleeping quarters. I ask if she’s OK as I crawl through. She just stares at me. I presume there’s another child in the wood gathering fuel and water. I wonder what’s going through her mind, ‘Who is this person and what right does he have to climb through the tent?’ I scramble out and head to the outside of the woods where my bike awaits. I decide to cycle uphill to the next town, which takes me through a set of roadworks. I overtake queuing traffic on the hill, aware, that they’ll have to overtake me at the red light. I reach the lights and I realise that I’m blocking the driver’s view of the lights so I edge forward past them. Then, when they do turn green, I struggle to pull off up the hill. Once I’ve exited the roadworks, I realise that I’ve left my backpack at the edge of the woods where I collected my bike.

Rancho Texas

 It cost us a fair bit of dosh to come here. We were relieved to see that our transfer was included in the price, but we were concerned that we might be losing time and wouldn’t fit everything in after all the pickups but we needn’t had worried. Upon arrival, a friendly staff member handed us a map and directed us to a queue to have our online tickets scanned; though I did wonder if it was quicker pay on the door.

We made straight for the dolphin arena to get a seat for the show, stopping to look at creatures along the way. Upon arrival, we did manage to get seats near the back but the viewing and performance area looked quite large and the dolphins seemed to be happy and well cared for. We then wandered around the rest of the zoo section. The ponies didn’t seem to be in any shade, but the enclosure for the white tiger was huge with plenty of viewing angles once you’d worked out where he was. We also enjoyed watching the lynxes chase each other. Then we had a go at the canoeing, though we were disappointed to pay a surcharge for this and the experience would have been better if you did a lazy island style circuit with optional rapids than paddle down a u-shaped bend to a dead end with some bushes. We dried off by walking around the reptile house, though I did wonder if the amphibious crocodile-shaped tortoise had enough room.

After some interesting xxx antics from the tortoises, we observed the bird show from the hill, but they did indeed seem to be tied up when not flying. We then headed down to the fast food restaurant for lunch. The portions and freshness were reasonable for the price, and staff were happy here. We shared a pizza and some baguettes with fries and onion rings between six of us before heading to the sea lion show which was also good fun with some great photo opportunities.

Onto the water park. We hired a locker for our valuables then found some sunbeds and grabbed some inflatable rings. There was a bit of confusion about where to queue for the lower slide, but the wait wasn’t long (I wondered how busy it gets at weekends when the locals come along). I think it’s a shame that you have to take these tyres up yourself and perhaps a ramp could be devised. The hidden valley was also a bit of a disappointment; I was expecting a lazy river style circuit that you could swim or float through rather than a waterfall around a corner. But me and the young ones happily spent the rest of the afternoon sliding down on the rings; we did try the larger wave slide once but lost count of how many times we went down Wild Canyon and the Gold Rush.

I had a quick visit to the gents by the gift shop and was surprised to see into the parrot enclosure; the parrots could literally watch you pee! Then it was onto the transfer bus which was waiting for us at the exit and we were directed by more friendly staff. We weren’t the last ones on but we had booked; it appeared that a seat shortage was caused by those who hadn’t booked the transfer and came earlier via taxi. No-one seemed to check us on as we embarked. A few little ones ended up on laps to make room.

Although admission was slightly expensive, we all had a great time as there was a lot to see and do. Hopefully there will be new exhibits to tempt us back and we may be braver to try some of the faster water slides!

Pack up your Troubles #dreamdiary 207

I’m at a works conference. It’s in a giant arena in what used to be one of the company’s premises in a  shopping centre structure. There’s an outline of what we’re supposed to achieve over the next year and the tasks we must complete to achieve that. Rather than having us leave the building, lunch is provided for us which forces us to mingle in the auditorium to collect it. Having been stuck inside all day, I fancy some fresh air and the opportunity to  see some daylight. I head into a corner where I calculate that if I head behind a propped noticeboard, I can squeeze through a gap in the chicken wire and head outside. It’s a huge airfield only instead of planes it’s a car park. There’s hangers for the company to store its wares. It’s as if we’re being forced into packing up  the company’s property to ship elsewhere, leaving us jobless in the process.

What if a cruise worker gets fired during the cruise?

I’d imagine there’d be restrictions just as if someone had committed a crime. It would depend on the severity of the offence. Ideally, you’d want to hand papers to the employee while the ship is in port, preferably at the end of the voyage or have arrangements made to take the employee back to the point of embarkation. It depends if you can trust them enough to continue with their duties until you reach port, or have them assigned to a different set of tasks. Access to their work areas would be secured with a new keycard and the employee could be secured in the room if necessary with room service only. You’d be short staffed while the employee is out of action unless you can ask someone else to work an extra shift or put more time in. It would put more stress on the other employees. They may have to pay a fare out of their salary.

Siloed

It would be cooler if the playground was a hideout for something much more. Perhaps it’s used to host a secret silo for a missile. After all, no-one would want to purposefully bomb an innocent children’s space unless they were intentionally declaring a terrorist threat or act of war. These areas are well-guarded by children playing during the day, and they’re maintained at night which is why the park gates are always locked at night. The whole area is already barricaded off and well-fixed playground equipment could just drop down on a trapdoor to reveal a pit below. You could even have half a rocket protruding from the ground for children to play in with an engine and payload below held by a launch pad disguised as a slide and a climbing frame. It would probably need a bit of maintenance and cleaning especially with self-sealing doors. But perhaps they don’t all have to work at once?