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Uniforms on order

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I am away from tomorrow for a few days, to a rocky place in the sun. I have just about finished the story, and will post the other episodes on my return. May I suggest for anyone reading my tale that they read my other one as well. Thank you for your patience.

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Uniforms 7

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CHAPTER 7
I wasn’t really up to anything for a while. I lived off my bounty for a bit, drank too much for a bit longer, and then moved into the obvious line of work for a big hard lad, door work at one of the pubs I had been using. There had been a spot of nastiness, I helped somebody to leave the pub by offering them a choice between staying in the warm or remaining attached to the testicles I was taking out into the rain, and for some reason they all left together.

Uniforms 6

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CHAPTER 6
I had a few years of fun, after that. I was really lucky, we were lucky, never to do a tour in Ulster, but Stewie and I got to see Hong Kong a couple of times before it was given to the Chinese, and we had more than a few joint exercises with the Dutch Marines, and more than a few fights, and much, much more than a few beers.

Uniforms 2

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I have taken a number of small liberties with history here, this being fiction after all. I apologise if any of the real folk who were involved in this feel I have wronged them in any way. This tale is offered in the deepest respect. And of course I affirm copyright, 2010, in both my real name as held by the site operators and the name Cyclist.

More technical stuff

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I had a request for this just as I was about to start writng it! Spooky.....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falklands_War
is a quick reference to the main events in the real world and the setting of my story. Here are a few key words
LCU a type of landing craft

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Uniforms 1

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UNIFORMS.

Not even first light. The chop was making my teeth rattle as the blunt bow slammed into each wave the LCU met, and a couple of the lads were already being sick. The bergen weighed far too much, but I’d managed to snaffle a Mao suit and, much to my surprise, managed to squeeze it in. We were in the second wave, and as we had heard nothing from the shore so far it looked as if we were going to be unopposed. Thank fuck my new boots had come. Too many of the lads were still in ammo boots, but I had done more than enough on Dartmoor in mine to know exactly how bad they were.

Something to Declare 52

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Chapter 54

It was finally over, the women getting three years each for the conspiracy and the Marines declining to press charges for the assault, although their assailants did get a few hundred hours Community Service for affray.

Something to Declare 51

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Chapter 53

We left the court and went off to the noodle bar in the next street, I really needed something strongly flavoured to clear my mouth of the bad taste left both by my illness and the facts that had come out in the trial.

Something to Declare 50

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Chapter 52

EXTREMELY UNPLEASANT MATERIAL BELOW.
I was not required as a witness, as my “evidence” was simply the initial recognition of Alfie Smith’s face. Naomi, however, was called, and when the day of the trial came up we made a party of five for the trip up to Croydon Crown Court, us, Naomi and Albert, and Sally.

All items declared

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Finally, the dance is coming to an end. The caller has asked for a Circassian circle, and promised some polkas to round off the evening. I have one more chapter to write and Steph will have come to her destination. Episode 53 should be the final part of my story. Thank you all for your patience and kindness.

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Something to Declare 47

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Chapter 49

We went straight to the police station. This was the sort of thing where clothes would get disposed of, if we didn’t act quickly, and unless Smith and his friends were even stupider than we thought they would have heard the news.

Laws of the universe.

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So....up, and go to fix the tyre on the road bike. t turns out to be the tyre itself, the sidewall has gone. So, back to the tourer, load all five bags on and do the supermarket run while I still have money in the bank for food.
And the landlord has put up the rent.
Dither over whether to buy mushrooms....and don't, for some odd reason. Pay, load up, ride back and put everything away. As put my bike away, I realise my little bed of Agaricus campestris has fruited. I have, instead of supermarket A bisporus mushrooms, eight new, fresh wild ones. Result!

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Something to Declare 42

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Chapter 44

Thursday night and we were off. Driving past London on a Bank Holiday Friday is not my idea of fun, so Geoff and I were meeting up with the rest of the clan at Oxford before spending the Thursday night in a motel near Telford.

Something to Declare 41

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Chapter 43

I despair of my colleagues, sometimes. Donna, being on a different team, works a different slot on the roster, so where she had a late shift after a night on the beer I had an early turn.

Something to Declare 38

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Chapter 40

And so it was two full days in Paris, in a small hotel near Guy Moquet. This was real Paris, not a swanky hotel by the river or a tourist convenience seemingly built out of Lego, but a proper family-run place with character, quirks, inconveniences and incredibly thin towels.

Something to Declare 35

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Chapter 37

I have already said more than once that real life is not like a film, dramas don’t happen every five minutes and there aren’t plot devices to unravel. Real life also doesn’t stop with a “and they all lived….” like a fairytale. It just carries on from day to day, and it is no less valuable for that.

And that was fun

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And I am back. Just in the door, kettle on and tent laid out to dry. I spent four and a half hours playing in a session last night, preceded by two hours at lunchtime, and similar times for Saturday and Sunday. Not only was the fiddler I largely based a character on there, but I heard that his old collaborator of years past has now come out as transgender, so all threads seemed to be drawn together. I played bodhran for a while with a woman who loved to syncopate, and we ended up having a duet of sorts which was huge fun; I then got asked by one of the audience for a lesson (blush)

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Something to Declare 33

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Chapter 35

Time was moving faster than I could manage. I was being lined up for surgery almost before knew it, PBP was looming, I still hadn’t sorted a way of getting back across the Channel with my passport and official gender as they were, and my conversation months ago with Geoff was something I truly wanted to ignore. There was no way on Earth I was ever going back in that cage, no way I would ever pretend again.

Something to Declare 32

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Chapter 34

And Sue was indeed stocious, as a rat. We had formed up in one of the Crawley bars that sold more bottles of coloured liquid than real ale, the sort of drink known as “tart fuel”, and that was exactly what it was like.

Something to Declare 31

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Chapter 33

And life carried on. I needed new bras by now, as I was steadily expanding my attributes. Not hugely so, at 35, but they still pleased me, and Geoff seemed to like them.

Something to Declare 30

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Chapter 32

The Friday was spent on the Horseshoe, that classic circuit of Yr Wyddfa that takes in Crib Goch, Y Garnedd Ugain, the top of “Snowdon”, and Y Lliwedd before returning to the Pen y Pass car park.

Something to Declare 28

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Chapter 30

Being without a bike, I took a taxi home. Vanessa had given me the rest of the day off after calling me to her office for a debrief. She has a very raucous laugh, and when Nigel mentioned the “I know where it’s been” comment, she brayed.

Somethng to Declare, Technical and local stuff

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We have had rugby and there are some bits involving climbing coming up, as well as rather a lot of local Welsh stuff. I have added weblinks to photos and reference sites that will give some explanation, but I do not want to tangle the narrative of a story that is important to me with a lot of technical exposition. If anyone wants or needs to work out whet the hell I am writing about, feel free to ask and I will answer.I was reminded of the problem when a comment (a nice one) was made about "places on the Moon"

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Interruption of service

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For anyone who is following my story at the moment, my apologies. I have my plot nicely sorted, and am some way ahead of the episodes posted here so far, but I go onto night shift next week and am then away at the folk festival where Steph was born. This means that she will be unavailable for a while at the end of August Be assured,for good or bad she has a life to lead, and a book to finish.

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Something to Declare 25

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Chapter 27

And so it went, week by week, as my life went on. Real life, that is, in two senses. Firstly, this was my real life, at last, as the work re-birthday card had declared. Secondly, real life is not like a cliffhanger film plot, or cheap novel.

Something to Declare 22

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Chapter 24

It’s a long walk back along the cliffs to Bosherston, The wind was at my back and my hair was streaming out, showing me the way home. I could get a lot of my bits and pieces onto the bike, and it was only a short ride back to Pembroke railway station.

My specialist subject is...

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Well, I have read very many stories here that discuss American football. It seems to be taken as read that the world understands the references. I have written rugby into my tale, a sport that has a far, far wider following than gridiron, but I realise that there are many folk who know absolutely nothing of it.
I have also written one of my other passions into my stuff, namely music. I get really into the swing and the flow and....
How do people write a "specialist" episode without spending half a chapter explaining "pastime for dummies"?

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