Nearer and Nearer

Saturday 20th December 2008
Well now, things are now starting to happen.
My company, Toyoda Gosei Fluid Systems UK Limited, finally closed it's doors for the final time on Thursday 18th Dec - which was one day earlier than planned, but as most of my friends and colleagues had already finished it wasn't a day too soon! This should have been a sad day, but I think we're spent out of sadness for the company over the previous few weeks and months when others left. It was a really special place to work, even though everyone who worked there used to call it something rotten, there was a real sense of cameraderie with most of the workers and I'll treasure loads of happy memories (and sad ones too) for the rest of my days.
I think the whole process has taken it's toll on me though, I'm not normally a person who is off work sick, but over the last fortnight I have had to drag myself in as I've been suffering with the flu-like bug that is going around. The final closure, along with the assistance of some antibiotics, is putting me back on the road to recovery though, and I plan to be fit and well for the start of my quest.
My visa came through and I collected it a fortnight ago so, with my redundancy money coming through I ventured back to the local travel agents last Friday to book the flights. This is now also complete, I collected the air tickets yesterday (Friday) and I fly out from London Heathrow on Wednesday 7th Jan at 10:05am arriving in Mumbai at half past midnight on the 8th.
My local chemist has also been most helpful in assisting with my anti-malarial treatment. I passed a rough guide to my travel plans and they investigated to ensure I received the correct drugs and information to give me the best protection. Everyone I come into contact with regarding this trip is showing a great deal of interest and are wishing me well in my search. This all adds to the intensity of the whole thing and I think I may be a little tearful when I eventually set off.
The one thing I'm not looking forward to is being apart from my special girls. Louise, my eldest daugher will be fine as she has a lovely partner who will look after her at least as well as I could, but leaving Shana (youngest) and Caroline (my sweetheart) behind will leave an ache in my heart which will be with me until I return. Both of you please be sure that you will be always in my heart and thoughts!
I have also recently received a letter from Flip in Australia along with a map of Lucknow where the graveyard they found the last time they were there is marked. She wasn't 100% sure if it is where George Essex is buried, but the dates on some of the gravestones bears out to the same time periods so it is something I will be looking into when I get there. While they were there some of the locals took offence to their presence and they were stoned, so it would appear that there is still some degree of hatred of the British even after such a long period of time since we handed back control to their own people, although I can't say I blame them as we were not the best behaved invaders in history!
She has also passed on the address of a priest in Amballa who talked to them and had promised to look further into the birth of Harry Essex, so this is another avenue I will be travelling along.

Christmas is now closing fast and my efforts should now be focussing on ensuring all my nearest and dearest enjoy the festive season so I won't be posting any more on here until the eve of my trip. Merry Christmas to you all and a happy and prosperous new year!