Marty

Geron, you can really be a pain at times... I'm on the edge of my seat here, waiting to find out what the guys have planned.

You suggesting he should get into bed with Spielberg?

I remember those dumping grounds from when I was a kid. They really were great places to find "interesting" stuff... Can't wait to find out what idea Kelly is brewing up in his head! Another great chapter, @Geron Kees

Hi, Albert.

Nope. No sign of it here in Ireland. You could maybe try Singapore.

I believe "Warning: Bad to the bone" was written in big bold letters on the top of the patient notes hanging on the end of your bed....

Bad to the Bone, is what I heard....

Hi all. Sorry I've not been around much this past few days. Been dosed with a head cold, and just haven't been able to concentrate on things. Just about over it now, so I may be back to annoy yous all tomorrow. Off to bed now, though. @Headstall: good to hear your opp went okay-ish. @Randy Wade: great news about the faulty brain scan results! I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I have circled (in red) in the image below, the link at the bottom of your notifications tab that Cia is talking about, @Talo Segura. I'm not sure whether you can open it in a new tab if you are viewing GA on a mobile phone or tablet, but it certainly works on a Windows laptop or desktop.

Sad news for all those cat lovers out there... https://www.itv.com/news/2019-05-17/internet-meme-grumpy-cat-dies-aged-seven/

Thanks for the comment, @Talo Segura. I am actually trying for a different sort of theme to the usual one with this story. I'm not sure just how well it will work. One problem I can see is how I will ever actually bring it to a satisfactory conclusion. Johnny is not interested in anything more than a platonic relationship with Sean, or maybe perhaps a mentor/mentee sort of one. So that seems to rule out this being a romance. Sean's problems seem almost unsolvable, or at least ones that only he, himself, will be able to solve. So that seems to rule out Johnny becoming the wonderful superhero who saved Sean from himself by the end of it. This is a completely new piece of work from me. I'm adding each chapter as soon as I've finished writing and editing it. I'm worried the story may just run on and on and on, a bit like some TV soap opera, and I'll never find a way to bring it to a proper conclusion that will leave the readers happy. Still, it feels good to have the creative juices running again! And I'm glad that time standing still bit worked for you. I had struggled describing that scene, and still wasn't 100% sure I'd managed it all that well.

I'm still waiting for summer to actually arrive here in the West of Ireland. We're exactly two weeks shy of the summer solstice (or midsummer, as some people like to call it) and, apart from the days being a lot longer than they were a few months ago, you'd hardly know it was summer here at all. I've nothing definite planned yet, although a friend and myself are tentatively talking about doing a road trip through parts of Western Europe. I'm also thinking about booking a walking holiday somewhere in Europe as well, maybe part of the Camino. One nice thing about being retired is that I am not restricted as to when I can take holidays, so I don't have to worry about the extra cost of being forced to take holidays during the peak holiday season.

Do I detect a certain amount of fat shaming...? Tsk! Tsk! Naughty children!

Thanks, @Talo Segura I definitely count the sixties as a period. The early years of that decade are burned into my memory, with the likes of the Cuban missile crisis, the assassination of JFK, the Berlin Wall and the Cold War, and Martin Luther's dream and the rise of the Civil Rights movements being just a few of my abiding memories. And the last years of the sixties heralded the arrival of flower power, hippies, Hare Krishna, recreational drugs of different kinds, Vietnam, student unrest, and the rise of the antiwar movement. What was it Danny, the drug dealer in Withnail and I, said about the impending end of the sixties? Something along the lines of "They're selling hippie wigs these days, man. Looks like the greatest decade in the history of mankind is over," (if I remember correctly). Oh, and regarding England winning something in 1966, it was more a robbery than a win. West Germany should have won that final. (And that's not sour grapes, or an anti-Brit slur from someone living in Ireland. I was born and reared in England. That Geoff Hurst goal never was a goal.)

Wow! 😲 Many thanks for saying that, @Talo Segura. I just hope I will live up to your expectations.

I'm enjoying writing Jock's part in this tale. Almost seems a pity the two boys are heading off to different universities... Thanks for the comment, Parker. I'll say nothing (yet) about your speculation.

Cheers, Parker! Hopefully I won't disappoint you in future chapters.

Thanks for the comment, Ivor. I started university around the same time our hero, Danny, did in this chapter. (No, Danny's story if not my autobiography). Oddly enough I can remember some of the older generation at the time complaining that, with the rapid expansion of universities, the value of a degree was being debased.

Cheers, Gary! I also grew up in that period, so hopefully I'm remembering what that time was really like. Then again, someone once said that, if you can remember the nineteen-sixties, you weren't really there.

Thanks, @drpaladin. I must say I like him a lot myself. Without giving any spoilers away, I'd just point out that the two boys are about to head off to different universities, so we may not see as much of him as you might like. But I'm sure he'll pop up in Danny's life occasionally and play more than a minor part in it. As for the time period, you are partly correct. This is part of what I wrote in the introductory blurb to this story: "This story spans a period from the nineteen-sixties to the present day."

Thanks for the kind words, Gary. I'll do my best to not keep people waiting too long between instalments. I've quite a few chapters already basically finished (as in: they just need a final editing), and others that are at least "sketched out" in text files. I'm hoping to release a chapter every ten days or so. I don't expect to get them out any faster than that for the time being, as I am busy with other projects as well. As for Danny lacking confidence, maybe he's just too much of a perfectionist... (but I don't give out spoilers, so you'll just have to wait and see )

Almost one in the morning here, guys. Bit of a busy day tomorrow (today?) Think I better get some shut-eye (aka beauty sleep). 'Night, peeps.

It's finally online.

Oh, Randy... I honestly don't know what to say at the moment. Please just know that you and Mark, and the rest of your family, are in my thoughts.