While sitting here sniffling from a cold regretting not getting to eat with nostr:npub1h5y464s5luy8fctwxgqrzhae2lazhx46nenvn8t4hqay96xu2cfsqsc68a and watching war negotiations between Trump and Zelenskyy going on in the Vatican City. I have been reflecting on the guilt I feel cancelling tonight and my path to becoming “Mike the Bastard”.

We had booked a social media friend on X, "Colin the Abingdon taxi" to take us to and from Southampton for our recent Cruise.

A few days before we were due to board, he messaged me and explained he couldn’t drive us there because he had a Church friend that was seriously ill and nobody else was available, however he had asked another taxi friend of his to take us instead.

The day comes and the taxi turns up, I’m going to name names, because I got scammed. He was Adi who runs Jericho Executive Cars, phone: 07500 004335

The journey was fine and we arrive in Southampton in pouring rain. I had agreed 120 GBP with Colin, but ask Adi “How much do I owe you?’. He replies, 220 GBP. I’m shocked, but as I hadn’t negotiated with him before the journey and was in no position to argue, I pay with some ineffective verbal complaint.

On returning, Colin picks us up, I tell him about the price charged by Adi and he simply says “That’s not right Mike, he shouldn’t have charged you that much”, but offers no further comment.

I then ask after his seriously ill Church colleague. After a long winded explanation that doesn’t mention him at all, it turns out that the old gentleman simply decided to retire from running the churches mixing desk during Sunday morning service and Colin was the only other person that knew how it worked.

I went silent at this explanation and it became obvious to Colin that I wasn’t best pleased, he had cancelled our booking to run a church service sound mixing desk.

Later during the taxi ride, he explains that the church has been trying to get Internet, but struggled because the local telecoms box is at capacity. I ask if he’s considered Starlink, Colin replies that he’s never heard of it, so I message him the link to it.

Later on that day, he messages thanking me, but concerned about potential line of sight coverage issues, I discover the answers to his concerns and message him back, but get no response, presumably because he doesn’t need me any more.

Fast forward to today, where I am feeling incredibly guilty letting down the Bitcoin Chef as well as sad that I won’t get to enjoy his food or meet him in real life.

I therefore used my time to resolve my feelings to understand that I am responsible for cancelling my booking, which is why I offered to pay in full for tonight, but I bear no guilt as I couldn’t help my wife and I getting colds.

In fact, before I felt ill today, I was deciding whether to cancel as I didn’t want to be responsible for my wife spreading germs in a public restaurant, especially as this evening involves communal seating on shared tables and our dining neighbours might not have been happy with my wife coughing and sneezing next to them.

So while I still have some guilt, I am working on changing that to just responsibility.

As for our taxi driver, I could make a fuss about the scam fare, but realistically the extra 100 GBP is well worth paying as a life lesson to help me stop feeling guilty for breaking commitments when necessary and continuing my journey towards “Mike the Bastard”.