Ladies Night

I mentioned I had bought the cradle and printer for my Casio PB700, it was bought on a visit to the UK in 1989 and it is worth remembering.

The trip was booked at an Oshawa travel agency called Armstrong Tours, flights at the time (February 1989) were $402 a piece (including taxes) flying from Hamilton in Ontario to Gatwick. The reason for the trip was not really about acquiring the aforementioned interface, it was actually because my dad was becoming grand-poobah of the lodge (he was a freemason) and it was going to be my mothers ladies night.

It seemed like it was too soon in our Canadian adventure and money was thin, but we arranged it anyway, for mum and dad it was a once in a lifetime thing and we would get to see friends and family after our year long vacation in Canada.

Arriving at Rhyl I was surprised how my mum looked, over the previous year she had been treated for an overactive thyroid, took them a long time to diagnose for some reason, so she looked somewhat different, as the Saturday evolved Auntie Alda and Uncle Bob arrived and Auntie Maggie, it was great to see them.

Saturday, February 18th, 1989

Ladies Night

The night was special, especially for mum who made a lovely speech, my brothers Rob and Paul and their respective girlfriends were there and the "do" was a great success with everyone dancing and having a great time, I would say the food/dinner was great, but really it was a bit of a let down, typical of British catering (perhaps more accurately, Welsh catering).

I hadn't seen this side of the freemasons before and it almost made me wish that I belonged to an organization like this, I probably pondered that for a few weeks after we arrived back in Canada and then went back to my traditional way of thinking that it is a load of old rubbish.

I was getting romantic with Karen in the back of the late coach on the way back to Kimnel Bay when the thing broke down, overheating being the problem. It was hilarious with all the family and the goings on, made me realize how special they all were and that the expense of this trip home was worth it, just for the short hours spent with this bunch.

Less than two weeks later we would be back in Canada, a few thousand dollars lighter and just a bunch of memories of a cold visit to the old country, coincidently, the new country was still bloody cold as well, so we felt right at home.