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Farewell to the Earls' Court Exhibition Hall.

Sunday is the last day, and the 17^th consecutive day at Earls’ Court for me; or 18^th if you count the setting up day. After a poor night’s sleep when Jane’s cat insisted on sleeping on the bed and getting attention we loaded the van and set off for the show. It’s definitely the best time of the week to drive in London; early morning on Sunday. The traffic is so light you can just cruise along. We parked the van for the day and made arrangements to park it close to the exit for a quick getaway. At times my eyes wanted to close, but of course there is nowhere to sleep at the show so I wasn’t able to get the rest I so badly need. At 3.30 I write these lines, the last of my Earls Court blog, and simply want to go home. It’s been a great experience but I am left with a feeling of sadness that I am not the right person to engage and sell to the public in this kind of forum. We don’t have the money for the kind of stand that attracts attention and I feel that my days of exhibiting are nearly over. I do want to do at least one Irish Show before I stop though. Above all I hope that enough of the contacts turn into sales or it will have been a very expensive mistake.

As a footnote, I only learned towards the end that this would be the last ever Ideal Home Show at Earls’ Court because it is about to be torn down, along with Earls’ Court 2 and much of the surrounding area. The whole neighbourhood is going to be flattened in order to build the largest housing development in Europe (so I am told) and it fills me with sadness that such an iconic building has to die. Looking at the scale of it fills me with awe, and the thought of the amount of metal, concrete and fittings comprised within it staggers the imagination. Like a vast ocean liner being towed to its last resting place it looms over the landscape, casting a long shadow into the future. The Show will transfer to the much smaller Olympia exhibition hall next year.

Day 15 at the Ideal Home Show

Friday is Day 15, and my energy is definitely fading, like a battery that has been doing its job for too long. However Sully, one of the Romford lads, made me feel ashamed of my lacklustre performance by getting a woman to take interest, that I had not engaged at all. As a result I upped my game and was active for several hours, calling my wares like Molly Malone. It was very productive and I got more leaflets distributed than nearly any other day.  By half past four, though, the steam had gone and I was yawning regularly.

Day 16 Saturday was very busy, and people were enthusiastically engaging with me and the product so time passed very quickly. Towards the end of the day I was getting tired and couldn’t wait to leave. A short tube journey would take me to the Angel Islington to meet my wife and daughter for a lovely meal at the Gate vegetarian restaurant. The food was as good as I had been told, and the combinations of flavours were exquisite. I had tomato stuffed pepper followed by tortillas stuffed with a variety of vegetables and spices on a bed of guacamole and topped off by an orange flavoured crème brulee; delicious. The back to Janes with Fran as fast as possible because we would lose an hour’s sleep due to the time change to British Summer Time.

Fourteenth day at the Ideal Home

Day 14 Thursday is the long one, which is not great because I’m already yawning at about 11.00. However, the footfall is good and the time passes quickly.

I just got a message from the organisers that due to expected heavy demand they want us to open at 9.30 Saturday and Sunday due to expected heavy demand, so we lose another half hour's sleep. This we receive at the end of an 11 hour day - and to add insult to injury they remind us that the clocks go forwards on Saturday night, losing us another hour's sleep!

Today has been much more positive than the past two days. It seems that people are actively interested as opposed to idly browsing as they have been for the earlier part of the week: a totally different attitude which has kept me much busier explaining the benefits of the dryline, and how to measure it. However, by 7.00 it is getting quiet and I haven’t spoken to anyone for about half an hour. The last two hours will drag.

Still, despite the lack of sleep Jane's looking after me really well so I've no cause to complain. She said there would be roast chicken and roast vegetables to eat tonight, after which I'll go straight to sleep. 

The Thirteenth Day

Day 13 Wednesday dawned and I felt quite rested when I woke. The day was chill but bright as I walked to the tube and I got a couple of phone calls while walking, which cheered me up. I mused on the tube. In the carriage there are so many personal worlds: books, magazines, newspapers, kindle e-books, smart phones, i-pads (watching Star Trek!), headphones listening to music, podcasts, downloads. Probably no two people doing the same thing, all to separate themselves from their cramped companions, and to drown the whine of the motors and the scream of the wheels; a Velvet Underground.

The show started slowly but by midday was quite busy. We are open today until 7.00 to welcome Prince Charles. I hope he passes me by as I can ask if he has used the airer and Dryline that I sent him for Kate and William’s boy. Sean came again to discuss some more points of business and left at about 3.00 to catch the plane back to Dublin. I left him to do some selling but I don’t think he was really very comfortable doing it; it makes me think perhaps he’s not the man for the job.

Prince Charles actually did arrive after 6 and was still talking to various people when I left at 7.00, but he never toured our area and the throng was cordoned off in front of his show houses, made from traditional green ecological materials to higher than Regulation standards. He was also front page news today about the housing shortage in the country, and London in particular, talking about the same housing stock – but there was no mention of the Ideal Home Show. The PR department must have been asleep on the job.

Day 11 at the Ideal Home Show

Day 11, Monday started very bright and sunny; a pleasure to walk to the tube. However, I feel that my batteries are getting low, and my resistance is getting lower, while the voltage is increasing and my capacitance is decreasing. I started without having any backup except my wife at weekends, wondering how I would cope with such an extended Show. I had arranged for other help if I needed it, but so far it hasn’t been necessary. This morning I find myself wondering if I will last out the course. After the hurly burly of the weekend when thousands of people attended, today seems very quiet, and the lack of response makes me feel dispirited. However, each time someone complements me on the product it lifts my spirits again.

It is weird to have so many people pass by you in a day. You start to realize the uniqueness of every individual; the very word individual – something that can’t be divided – underlines the point. Hundreds of thousands of people have passed by, but each person has been unique and special. Sullee, one of the Romford lads, keeps nipping out to have a cigarette and I end up taking the cash for him. The things sell themselves, even though they’re not all that useful unless you’re always drinking from a can. Maybe I should give up my invention and sell something cheap and novel too. Like a chocolate teapot…

Second weekend at the Ideal Home Show

Days 9 and 10 melded into one long stint during which we stood in turns to bark out our offer. We gave out a lot of leaflets, so now we have to hope that the interest turns into sales. On Saturday evening we went to see our daughter who lives in Islington, and who is not well at present. She is nearly recovered, and we went to get a takeaway Turkish meal from a lovely café called Gallipoli on Upper Street. It was delicious after a long hard day, but after a walk to the tube and from the tube at the other end our feet were killing us, as if on fire, and we fell asleep in minutes. Sunday was much the same, and after 6 we ate in Wagamama; again delicious, before Fran got the train back home and I got the tube to Jane’s. We had hoped to meet Nigel, an old friend who we all love, but he had a stomach bug and so couldn’t invite us to his boat. In retrospect, it probably would have been too much for us to do. I got back to Jane’s to find her children Charlie and Josh having a shouting match so I retired to my room, read for a while and fell fast asleep.