Fitting a new water pump!
First of all appologies for not updating my blog for nearly 2 months but life has been more than a bit strange of late! Chris is still in England looking after her mother who is thankfully now well on the mend. Meanwhile I have been working flat out getting everything ready for the season including (amongst 1000 other things):
Fitting a new water pump to Curt (aka Celtic Princess) Curt has had a great season but has been tactfully telling us all is not well with his fan belt and tensioner system by giving the occasional squeal, so I decided it was time to investigate this included removing the radiator and must of the front of the bus! Once there the radiator was suspect and water pump so as usual everything was replaced with Mercedes parts and I’am delighted to report he now sounds sweeter than ever and ready for 2009!
Robbie (aka Celtic Pride!) has also had a whole load of attention both by me and our long suffering mechanic Tom to overcome some problems that developed last year. After all that work it was looking a bit tatty with a few scratches and stone chips so in the Barratt spirit of never ding jobs by half the whole front end was repainted and even though I say it myself it now looks great!
Our new coach Celtic ??? (remember our competition?) is coming along well and I should have some pics soon,at the moment I’am fitting a new PA and DVD system, again we never scrimp on PA equipment as it is vital that it is reliable for your enjoyment and we now have the same system in each coach as we consider it to be the best.
So plenty to keep me busy here but just one quick story, I have been back to England to see Chris a couple of times but the last one was priceless! I had spoken to her on the phone and she seemed really down as her mum was still in hospital and she was on her own so I planned a surprise visit, I asked a friend of mine to invite Chris out for Dinner to cheer her up one Sunday night so they arranged to meet in a pub in Sunderland. Meanwhile I had booked a flight from Shannon to Newcastle and was going to turn up instead of him. I really had to cover my tracks so said I was having a day out on my motorbike, I texted Chris through the day telling her where I was (all lies!!) and when I got to Sunderland gave her a quick call to check she was in the pub pretending I had stopped in Limerick for dinner on my way home! It all took planning but her face when I walked in to that pub was a picture, I will remember that moment for ever – I think it was the boost that we both needed.
A bit of music for you now – if one song reminds me of that happy meeting it is by Irish band Bellx1 called The Great Defector – check it out – it just fitted in with that occasion so well!
