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Kick out the Brits!

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then that is all entirely down to me). But! The log itself is a true facsimile of what Jen wrote whilst on the road, coping with two little children (and yours truly) and has never been given a second glance since it was first written. I think she did a remarkable job writing it in the first place. And I think it stands up extremely well when read all these years later. So please just read the log parts of the book for what it is – a real day-by-day (hour-by-hour sometimes) journal of what happened along the way. If you can do that, you will be able to put yourself into her mind's eye and enjoy it so much more. Thank you.

rather go to the seaside than a department store any bank holiday of the year.</p />
<p>The log was recorded by Jen in 1980 – the year we left America. It was originally intended only as a personal log for the family, so that is why I have added some of my own 'logarithms' (OED definition includes '... used to simplify calculations as the addition and subtraction of logarithms is equivalent to...'). The reason for this is just to explain and put into context some of the personal comments contained in the log.</p>
<p>And one final comment before you read on please. I am a writer. This is my eighth book. 'Big deal' I hear you say, but that is not my point. The main part – the most important part – of this book is the log. I don't know if you have ever written a book before, but if you have – or even know anything about writing a book – then you will know that the finished article will have been through many, many edits before it is finally accepted and put into print. And this book is no exception to that very sensible process (so if there are any typos or grammatical errors left in what I have written,

– 'kept the show on the road (and sea) in effect'.</p />
</p><p>Before I ever even entered America, because, obviously, I eventually did (how would they have been able to kick us out otherwise?), I took my family to Canada. Well, when I say 'my family', I mean only my new wife and me then. But by the time we emigrated (again) to America, we were three. Then, by the time we decided to return back home we were four. And it was those four Brits that the Yanks 'kicked out'. Jimmy (dad), Jen (mum), Mike and Sarah. (Sarah lives back in California nowadays and Mike lives in Vancouver, so the experience couldn't have been all that bad!)</p>
<p>We lived in sunny California for the next three years – classified as 'Resident Aliens' (from the 'outer space' of good old Blighty) complete with our 'Green Cards' and, like our time in Canada, could have qualified to become American citizens if we wanted to. But we didn't. And why? Because money was not (and still isn't) our 'god' and never will be. Oh, don't get me wrong, we like to a comfortable life, but I'd

The prologue of this book is not really a prologue, because this book is not really a book. Yes, it is an introduction to what follows, but it is a long introduction – and what follows is not really a book, because it is a log. You know the difference between a log and a diary don't you? A diary is a reminder of what you have to do in the future: tomorrow, next week, next month, etc. And a log is a record of what you did in the past (and this book would be lost without the log that Jen, my first wife, made during our momentous journey back home from America to Blighty).</p />
</p><p>The prologue goes way on beyond a normal prologue, and the rest of the book is a combination of a facsimile of a log – a record of a real, momentous, life-changing journey that I took my young, fledgling family on, combined with the 'odd' occasional comment from me along the way. I think this combination is important actually, because Jen's log focusses on the family and the things that happened to us along the way (and by 'the way' I mean 7,000 miles of 'way'), with my complementary comments of how I kept things going

Kick out the Brits!

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