A small update that predicts the future...

Right, I don’t usually go for this super updating, little and often approach, but I thought that this was of notable interest. I want to just commit to ‘paper’ some experiences that I have had recently, as I think they are worth mentioning just as a benchmark and reference.

So firstly I have finally sorted out the holiday to New York! Thomas Cook managed to sort out the uber task of communicating between their own departments, managed to sort out a hotel that had access and managed to charge me an extra £135.32 in the process. As a matter of principle I am going to get that back at least, the shoddy approach to disability relations is laughable, not to mention the complete lack of accurate information on their own products. I think its also a bit shoddy to not have an accessible hotel in the same price range, and that purely for access issues I have had to ‘upgrade’ and therefore cost myself more! They shall be receiving a strongly worded letter and email in due course!

Secondly, after the Thomas Cook debacle was finally sorted I headed off to the Leamington Peace Festival. It was my first time at the festival, and I must say it was a lot better than I expected. There was a plethora of hat and tat stands, but it was really nice to see so many different types of people getting along.

Wandering round, I got chatting to a couple of the stall holders, who were telling me this and that. They said that they would be at Glastonbury, one even offered me a cup of tea, so I need to look out for a crystal and stones tent with red signage and claim my cuppa when I am there!

Lastly though, at the end of an very pleasant but uneventful afternoon, I was persuaded to go and have my tarot read. We had to wait for a bit as the lady was reading someone else. As we waited I was saying to Amy that I wouldn’t be giving anything away. I have read Derren Brown’s book, and have done a lot of wider reading about a technique called cold reading, so I was somewhat sceptical of what might happen next.

So there we were, sat around a small black table, me on one side, the tarot reader lady to my left and Amy to my right. After some small talk the tarot lady giving the cards a little shuffle she handed them to me, and told me that I needed to shuffle them. It was all about me handling and touching the cards and transferring my energy into them. I had to chuckle a little at this, after all they are mass produced cards that were slightly tatty, but it was open mind time, I went with it!

The physical process of having my tarot read was pretty simple, shuffle a bit, cut the deck into three, re-stack them, spread them and pick nine, and wait for her reading. I was quite impressed at the simplicity on my part anyway. So, the first batch are turned over, and it goes something like this... I end up with the Knight of Cups, which means that I am a nice sensitive caring guy. I also end up with a Chariot and a couple of others that mean I am going to travel the world. Added to that are a couple more that imply that I am have strength and clarity in my intelligence. So I sat there grinning and thinking this is pretty good. Part of me thought it might have been a bit of an ego boost to get me onside, but then the other part realised that I had dealt the cards. My scepticism was starting to take a battering.

Time for round two! The same process as before, shuffle, cut, re-stack, spread and pick. There we have it, nine new cards that will be telling of my fate and destiny. I had a lot of stabbing in the back in this one, and then a sword next to that, so I was not to fight back apparently. There was also the Queen of Cups which meant that I’d be meeting a girl who had her guard up. There was also the Devil! This was a card that made me laugh. Apparently the devil, “the sexy devil”, means that I can go out and party, flirt my little heart out and not feel guilty the morning after! Game on I thought! There was also a card that meant I’d be doing well in work and business. There was also a card to do with love, I am going to be in love it seems.

Round three, shuffle, cut, re-stack, spread and pick. I’m getting well into it now, can follow that process without being prompted! So there I go and draw my nine cards. My old friend The Devil is back. Same meaning which provokes a bit of a giggle from tarot lady. Another session of stabbing in the back, and the love card again. It was on the whole all very positive, there was some explanation of how it was going to be, but it was all very nice. Then there was a choice card to do with love. It could either mean I would have to choose between two lovers, or choose between a lover and a situation. The example given to me was loose the lover or move with them when they move away. When the time comes, and as the travel cards were so strong, I think I’ll keep the lover and move.

So as I summarised on Facebook earlier, I am going to travel a lot, be successful in business and lucky in love, but will get stabbed in the back. I suppose you have to take the rough with the smooth in life! It got to that time where I had to pay up, I asked the tarot lady how much I owed her. She said that it was free! She had enjoyed giving the reading so much and that I was so full of positivity and positive energy that she was going to waive the charge! The sign said £15 for 30 minutes too, what a lovely woman she is! After the reading she had a cigarette, and we stopped and chatted for a while. Then the two other women who had been working on her stall with her came over and joined us. They were all really lovely people, who were drinking gin and thoroughly enjoying their occupation. We sat with them chatting for over an hour, and even got another reading from a new set of cards! I got the flirty card again, this time it had a naked painted lady on it though! It was a shame it was so late in the day, we had to get the last train home. I would have been happy to stay and chat to them for hours otherwise, its amazing how easy it was to chat to a threesome of forty something women from Reading way...

So, what I actually wanted to note down was, that I should end up in love, rich and well travelled, if a little stabbed in the back. Keep an eye on this blog and I shall let you know if any of it comes true! I’m hoping for seventy five percent accuracy!!

One other thing, just a quick one, I want to say hi to my reader in South Portland, Maine, USA. As of Sunday 14th of June, you’ve read twice! Thank you, you kept your promise after our random chance online meeting. It was nice to talk to you, and I hope you have enjoyed reading a little about my vaguely interesting life!