Blast from the Past

Driving back from Gravesend yesterday, I left at 0130, after bringing a ship down from Dagenham. It had been a quiet day, only two jobs and a spell as duty pilot, so I was well rested for the journey.

 

Now that I have had my car for three years, the seats have just got comfortable to my bulk!, and the diesel engine is nearly run-in. Consequently I now average around 80-85mpg on the round trip of 460 miles, which saves me a fortune. To do that I have to drive a little slower than I used to at age 25 (not difficult) and it takes me half an hour more to get here (or there). I know because I tested it, doing one trip at 70mph and one at 55mph. The former cost me around £20 more in fuel, over the course of a year that's £760, so I grit my teeth and slow down.

I have an Ipod connection on the car sound system, and it's brilliant as far as I'm concerned. A while ago, I copied all my record collection onto it, and add to it with new stuff, so much so that its now full. When I brought all the vinyl, I never thought that one day I would have it all on a machine not much bigger than a cigarette packet.

I usually put it on mix play when I set off, so I never know what I'm going to hear next, and then use that as a starting point to pick albums/artists as they pop up. Yesterday morning, I got the first track from "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and quickly found the rest of the album.

Although it's 40 years old this year, it still sounded fresh, and the instrumental "Funeral for a Friend" sent shivers as it always has done. I enjoyed every track, even the ones that I wasn't so keen on at the time, they evoked all sorts of things in my head as I listened, things I had forgotten and things that I never will.

So before I knew it, I was 90 minutes into the trip, the nostalgia had really kicked in and I hunted for more of the music of my youth. For a time it was 1974 and the world was a different place, I won't say better because there are things I have now that I didn't have then, I think different is the best description.

Today is also my eldest daughters birthday, I can't believe its 29 years ago, I remember the joy I felt then and still do and as I see what an amazing person she has become, I realise that although the past may have been good, for me It can't really compare with the present.