I'm drinking a drink it's called loneliness, well it's better than drinking alone

I have now been in my new place for about 2 months and on the face of it it is very nice, good walks and the scenery is appealing. However when you move to a new place you simply don't know anyone. The neighbours to my right must be Trappist Monks as their next conversation will be their first believe me. The other neighbours are about 200 years old and whilst I have never heard them speak I hear their television at about 5 million decibels every night. It has got so bad that I now feel like I know the characters from Eastenders personally. (Eastenders being watched in Wymondham disappoints me as I just feel Wymondhamites are so much better than that) So in the first couple of months I can go days without seeing anyone, this outcome does not distress me as at times I like the solitude as it allows me to reflect on many areas of my life. However if I was to drop dead over the weekend or over a holiday I am sure I would have decayed worse than Esther Rantzen's teeth when somebody eventually raises the alarm. However I don't just want friends for the sake of it, indeed I have found my new situation has made me more picky on friendships and not in the least bit desperate. I often wonder how many friends we really have? I know on Facebook people claim 20 million friends but my definition of a friend has little to do with the social networking definition. So maybe I have 10 at best, with a few hundred acquaintances (that spelling is terrible even by my standards) and it is those 10 that one day might have to retrieve me from my toilet or bath when I have breathed my last. Anyway it is better having quality than quantity and you cannot even imagine in what other areas of my life that has rung true.



John Bell