When the bell rings, come out fighting

Like all fighters, I had to have a rest day, and today has been a total collapse day. Mum came up to visit today and we went out for a buy one, get one free lunch at a local hostelry and it was nice to have some one to off load to. It's hard to talk to mum about 'problems'; she's been in the ring so many times that she's punch drunk and hardened and she shrugs and knows, we'll all survive, as she said "You have to, who else will do it?" She's my 'Mickey' and never handed out tea and sympathy, just another instruction that you have to get on with it. In her own words, she always told me "You're gonna eat lightenin' and you're gonna crap thunder!"

Tomorrow is a fight day, when I strap my knuckles and get greased up. I go back to Devonport, back to the flat and do what I can to make it Jo and Rik's home. I have arranged another gas engineer to come round. The boiler may be in good working order and I'll just pay him. It may not and he may condemn it. If that happens, after a being slapped to the canvas, the bell will ring and I'll just get up again. I'll move into plan B and wizz off to buy an electric shower and go home and find an electrician to go round and fit it.

Along with the central heating engineer, I have also arranged for a double glazing sales man (I know him, I bought windows from him before and he has one price and he's not duplicitous) to measure up for new doors and windows. As the windows are falling out of their casements, my son, has nailed them shut and has sealed them with mastic for good measure. If there is a fire, they won't be able to get out and they will die! Secondly, deepest darkest Devonport is crack ridden and everyone is robbing everyone else for the next fix (I was broken into twice whilst I lived in Plymouth and once,there were builders working in the house and some drugged crazy broke in!) so the flat needs to be secure. It has to have new doors and windows.

After both of those bouts, I then take on my Ivan Drago and get ex-twat- to pay for all of this. He's lives in a different financial world, I will have to send him an invoice and his accountant will pay me at the end of the month. In the mean time, I'll be queueing up for soup but that's the way he does business.

However, just like Rocky, when all the odds are stacked up against me, I may still win. I may well be writing about the warm flat, with hot running water and windows that open and close and a door that can't simply be pushed open. My Mickey mum, toughened me up well and taught me a lesson, long before Rocky every uttered it to his son.

"But it ain't about how hard you hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and keep movin forward. How much you can take and keep movin forward. That's how winning is done!"

I'll be back tomorrow when Froogs rides out again.

Froogs xxxx