Five Things

I've been tagged by Martin Stabe. Five things you don't (already) know about me.

1) I once took my wife on a mini-break as a treat for her birthday. We went to a war zone (Abkhazia) with no electricity and no hot water. She still says she's glad we went but hasn't bugged me about holidays since.

2) I've been inside a North Korean Embassy (the Moscow one, to hand over some cash actually) and yes, they really do have a huge mural of Kim Jong Il on the wall.

3) I once bought a car for £80 and drove it from Bath to the Ukraine in the middle of winter for a bet (the bet was that a car that cost less than £100 wouldn't make it). Lost the exhaust pipe on the Czech/German border, got chased through Debrecen by knife wielding gypsies, damn near got shot by a border guard when one of my travelling companions, as the guard thought, offered a bit of buggery as a bribe to get us over the border (actually, he was miming would it be OK for him to pee in the bushes), stalled in a blizzard on Christmas Day as the battery ran out and realised, on only my second trip to Hungary, that I am allergic to paprika.
Enjoyed the pint that was at stake though.

4) I once had the FBI after me, through 10 states, although I had no idea at the time, on charges of armed robbery. Turned out to be mistaken identity. It was another 18 year old, red headed, Englishman who had done the muggings. Honest Guv'.

5) I met one of my writing heroes once, someone I've stolen borrowed elements of whatever style I have from. When I told him this he was most upset as he's actually read some of my writing and he observed that I was obviously not a very good thief copyist.

Pass this on to....well, I think everyone's already done this one, haven't they? If not, do it and tell me and I'll link here as if I'd passed it on to you.