Tuesday 30 September 2008

Too Much Detail

Robbie rang me yesterday to apologise for the frying pan incident, I think he'd got the message loud and clear. He was very cunning about buying it on Sunday, I was going to wait in the car because he (allegedly) only needed to buy a couple of things. He gave me his copy of Rail Express to read so that I wouldn't notice how long he was in the shop. While he was gone I had time to read a long article about the Virgin Trains service from Euston to Holyhead, it was an interesting read, and the pictures were great, but I didn't like the writing style and it became irritating after a while. The choice of words was more 'Boys Own' than railway magazine, terms like “we spied” were out of place, what is wrong with saying 'we saw, we noticed or we spotted'. When Robbie got back into the car he distracted me again by talking about model trains and the pros and cons of buying weathered or pristine models. It wasn't the most exciting subject and I found myself wondering if this was really the best he could manage in terms of conversation, after all he hadn't seen me since early on Friday morning! As I explained yesterday conversation he last thing on my mind when I discovered the frying pan!

I was really exhausted when I got home last night and all I wanted to do was eat and sleep, but Robbie wanted me to stay awake long enough to listen to him talk about an upsetting incident on his journey to work. From his expression and the way he was speaking I thought something really bad had happened, perhaps he'd had another fall or something; he had my undivided attention. The so called upsetting incident was nothing of the kind – someone had sat in Robbie's seat! It completely disrupted his routine and he had to sit in the opposite seat and glare at the 'intruder' all the way to Birmingham. He has now decided that we have to get up even earlier in the morning so that he can be absolutely sure of getting 'his' seat! I thought I could escape to bed, but he embarked on a long and to be brutally honest boring monologue on the refitted Cross Country HST. Unfortunately I find it hard to get excited about the performance of HST toilets at any time, but it was after midnight and I just wanted to sleep! In the end I wandered off to bed leaving Robbie still talking (to the cat) about trains. This morning I felt like screaming, he got up and resumed the conversation from the previous evening!

Sunday 28 September 2008

You Know You Have Lost The Plot When .........

Robbie went off on another rail tour at the weekend while I stayed at home and rushed around like a headless chicken. My step father is still in hospital and as well as my normal routine I have been driving my mum to and from hospital, taking her shopping and helping her with all the jobs that she can't manage to do on her own. When I got in on Saturday evening after visiting David and then doing my food shopping I was trying to get on with the washing while preparing a meal. I must have had a senior moment because I suddenly realised that I had filled the washing machine soap dispenser with frozen peas! It is much harder to get them out than to put them in, but eventually I got the meal and the laundry back on track.

My step father is making good progress, mum said that you can tell he is getting better because he is moaning all the time. When I went to see him on Saturday treated us to a monologue about his waterworks, eventually mum got cross with him and insisted on a change of subject, he started to tell us about his bowels instead until mum gave him a murderous look and he decided to discuss his laundry instead. I am so glad he is getting better, but it is hard work at times!

Robbie arrived home on Sunday afternoon, and on the way home he popped into Morrisons to buy meat and rolls for his lunch at work. He made an unauthorised purchase, a frying pan. I was furious because it was expensive, he hadn't consulted me and it was so small that you could only fry one egg at a time. I told him he had to take it back because I didn't want a frying pan, but when he told me that the carpet hadn't been hoovered for days (I did it yesterday!)
I decided I may have a use for it after all – he can wear it!

Friday 26 September 2008

So Frustrating!

Sometimes I despair of Robbie, he can be so frustrating but when I get cross with him he acts all innocent and genuinely seems to think I am the one being unreasonable. Yesterday he caught an earlier train home so that he could have his hair cut ready for the rail tour on Saturday. It was getting towards 11pm when I got home, I'd had the day from hell and all I wanted was to eat and then sleep, but I had to finish off some of my writing work before I went to bed. By the time I finally headed up to bed it was 12.45am and I was asleep on my feet. When I came out of the bathroom I found that Robbie had chosen exactly that moment to pack his bag for the rail tour. He had three lights on and the room was so bright that it was impossible to sleep, he refused to turn any of them off, I pulled the covers over my head and tried to ignore him but he is impossible to ignore. Next thing I knew he was pulling stuff out from the cupboard and throwing it into a pile right on to of me, he couldn't understand why I was so cross. He kept marching around accusing me of stealing his jeans, he even climbed over the bed at one point! Despite everything I must have fallen asleep in the end because I don't remember any more until I woke up slightly later than usual this morning. Robbie said he hadn't been able to wake me up, I wonder why!!!

Thursday 25 September 2008

Northern Rail - Don't Know if They Are Coming or Going

My life has been really chaotic this week because of having to take my mum to and from Oxford to visit my step father in hospital, so it was nice to have a quiet few minutes listening to the radio yesterday lunchtime. You and Yours was on Radio 4 and they had a report about Northern Rail and the problems experienced by passengers at Worksop Station. As if putting up with delays and cancellations was not bad enough, the passengers complained that lack of information was adding to their frustration. Station staff at Worksop don't seem to able to get up to date information on delays, but the station Café owner has found a way of keeping customers up to date. The train crew ring ahead with their food orders and at the same time they update him with information on delays etc. Richard Allen the head of communications for Northern Rail was interviewed and to his credit he didn't try to excuse the situation. He explained that investment is needed for the company to replace old equipment at stations, and they also need to review staffing levels. He tried to duck and dive a bit when he was faced with their poor passenger survey statistics but on the whole he gave sensible down to earth answers. If the café system works, maybe the best thing they could do is build on that by making a more formal arrangement for train crew to phone ahead.

Wednesday 24 September 2008

Dozy!

David is still in hospital in Oxford, so I took my mum and Emily to visit him again, it is a really horrible journey with far too many roundabouts and stops and starts and it takes ages. David was moaning yesterday, a sure sign that he is getting back to his old self! He is having trouble sleeping because of all the noise on the ward.

I haven't really seen much of Robbie over the last couple of days, he leaves for work at about 6am and I don't get back from work until 10.30pm and by then I am so tired that I just want to sleep. Robbie sat down on the sofa soon after I got home and within seconds he was dozing. About ten minutes later he suddenly jolted awake and started talking, I didn't take much notice at first but I became aware that he was giving a detailed account of a plot from a Simpsons episode. As the question 'why?' formed in my head, he stopped talking and looked confused. Then he admitted “I've been rambling haven't I” and he settled down and went back to sleep – a bit like the dormouse in Alice in Wonderland!

Tuesday 23 September 2008

Better News

The news on my step father was a little better yesterday. So far he is recovering well from his surgery, but he seems to be struggling a bit with his short term memory, he was fairly convinced that it was 1998! Visiting hours are from 3pm-8pm so I took my mum and Emily to Oxford and then my brother picked them up later. David was very relieved to see them because he knew that he was in hospital but he couldn't work out why or what had happened to everyone else and he didn't know if anyone knew where he was. Poor David, at least he seems to be on the mend. I hope they will move him back to Northampton soon because it is a horrible journey to Oxford.

Now that we have better news about David I can focus on writing a bit more about my Birthday. I wrote yesterday about a very random present from Robbie, but the weird clock was relatively normal compared to the card he bought me. When he gave it to me he was really excited and when I first looked at it I thought he had made it himself because it was made of felt scraps, but on closer inspection I found it was a Fuzzy Felts card. His reason for buying it was typically Robbie “well, it's retro” it was a nice thought but it didn't have any words in it and I like nice words in a card. I had a number of other lovely cards and Sam bought me a very funny card, it made me laugh out loud. As for Robbie I think I will get hold of a war time recipe book and make him a meal using only what would have been available in the days of rationing – I wonder if he would be so keen on retro then! I'm not really moaning, he may be weird but when it matters he is fantastic, I don't know how I would have coped with all the worry at the weekend without him there to help.

Monday 22 September 2008

A Question of Taste

Robbie informed me on Friday that he had bought me some amazing presents and a really original card for my birthday. I had asked for money, because Robbie doesn't have a very good track record when it comes to choosing presents, but if he was pleased with his choice I was prepared to at least try to like it. The box looked suspiciously like a train set, that would have been OK, but it wasn't a train, when I opened it I was confronted by a truly hideous clock with lines and blocks of clashing colours. It wasn't much use as a clock as it didn't have numbers on it and I couldn't imagine what possessed Robbie to choose it. He explained that it was the test card, why would I want the test card on a clock with no numbers? Robbie's answer was because it is retro and I can remember the test card – I can remember castor oil, it doesn't mean I want more of it!! I was still trying to like the clock when Robbie started asking about where we could put it, when I said no to the lounge he wanted to put it in the bedroom, I couldn't cope with that it would have given me nightmares! I think I will get my revenge on his colleagues who encouraged him to buy it – he can take it to work!

Difficult Times

This weekend started fairly normally but it took a turn for the worse and we have had a desperately worrying time. Robbie and Sam spent part of Saturday out in the garden doing battle with the fence. They worked hard and they finally dug out the lump of concrete that had been obstructing the fence posts. We now have all the posts in place and just one fence panel missing as Robbie still has to dig out a shrub which is obstructing that part of the fence.

My mum rang during the morning to say that my step father wasn't very well, he had a headache, he had been sick and he was very sleepy. None of those things sound too serious on their own, but I could tell that my mum was worried and I told her to call the doctor. She was given advice by phone and told to ring again if she was still worried. By evening she was worried enough to call again. The doctor came out and David was admitted to hospital, so mum went too. We went to bed but were on call ready to go and fetch my mum when she was ready to go home. She called at about 4am and we went off to fetch her, David was having tests to see if he'd had a stroke. Within an hour or so mum was called back and told that David had been bleeding inside the brain and he was very sick. We took her back and Robbie stayed with her while I got hold of my brother. By 9am he was being prepared for transfer to John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford and within hours he was undergoing brain.

David was doing OK by yesterday evening, but everyone seemed concerned about how I was coping. Yesterday was my birthday, five years ago I spent my birthday sitting with my husband Eric waiting for him to die, sheer willpower kept him alive until the following day. Many years ago my Dad also died just days before my birthday, I know it is just coincidence but it is hardly surprising that September is not my favourite month! I will write about my birthday in my next post.

Thursday 18 September 2008

Night Terrors

Yesterday when I woke up in the morning I had a memory of waking up and feeling very frightened in the night but I couldn't remember what had happened. I knew it had something to do with Robbie, but when I asked him he was extremely evasive about it, he tried to convince me that I had woken with a start when he came to bed very late, but I knew it was more than that because I remembered screaming. Finally in the afternoon something Emily said triggered my memory and suddenly it was all crystal clear. I was fast asleep when I was woken by a loud roaring noise which I can best describe as a one man riot! I woke with a start and I was so frightened that I shouted out as I woke. The cause of the disturbance was unbelievable even for Robbie – he had spotted the new Ikea catalogue at the side of my bed (I got it the previous day) and he was whooping with excitement!!

What Next?

Robbie has been off on his travels to the North again. Now why does that sentence remind me of Noggin the Nog? I absolutely loved Noggin the Nog when I was a child the stories were great but it was the amazing voice of of Oliver Postgate that added the magic. It always started with the words “In the Lands of the North ..............”

Anyway back to Robbie, he had a meeting somewhere far away, so he travelled there on Tuesday evening, stayed over night and got back (eventually) on Wednesday evening. While he was away his lump of Deltic was delivered, it was very heavy I dread to think how much it would cost to post it. Robbie was overjoyed, he kept holding it up to admire it and asking me to look at it. It didn't look very inspiring to me, it was like a very big pastry cutter. I dread to think what Robbie plans to do with it!

Tuesday 16 September 2008

Still Waiting!

Well, it is a good thing that I didn't hold my breath because we still don't have a fence! Robbie has perfected the art of procrastination and he found an assortment of reasons to put off doing the fence until I finally chased him outside at about half past five on Sunday afternoon. He and Sam remained outside for well over an hour, there was a fair bit of huffing and puffing and scratching of heads, not to mention some rather unorthodox language. Robbie had to retire injured after he stuck his hand into a bunch of stinging nettles, I wasn't over sympathetic, which made him even more frustrated. The two fence panels have still not been replaced and now Robbie has found that he can't use the existing middle post so he has to dig out the concrete it was set in. He promised to do it next Saturday, I only have one comment – watch out for a whole heard of flying pigs!

Sunday 14 September 2008

Mission Impossible (Shopping with Robbie)

Robbie and I went shopping at Toys R Us on Friday evening. Robbie came straight from work so he was still dressed in his suit, bit as soon as he walked through the door his 'inner child' took over and he was almost bursting with enthusiasm. I wanted to look for Christmas presents for my niece and nephews, Oliver is only 6 months old and Jack likes cars and diggers more than trains so despite Robbie pleading with me there was nobody to buy trains for. It didn't stop him trying, first we went to look at the brio and all the wooden Thomas series engines, he really wanted to buy one. Then we went to look at the die-cast Thomas models, I remember when Sam used to collect those, I think we still have them packed away somewhere. Robbie was rather taken with a carry case in the shape of Thomas that could store a selection of trains inside. I finally enticed him away from that section, but my problems had only just begun because he made a dash for the Hornby section. He described every single item in detail and I thought we would still be there at closing time. Thankfully Emily met us and we finally dragged him away to concentrate on the Christmas shopping. We bought Oliver's present, but we also bought a rather nice wooden train set for when he is old enough – guess whose idea that was!

I hate going to town especially on a Saturday, but Robbie pestered me until I gave in, so we spent this afternoon trailing around the shops in Northampton with Sam. When we finally sat down to have a drink and a snack Robbie told me that a parcel should be delivered on Monday. He had that guilty smile and it was clear he didn't want me to ask any questions. It is my birthday soon so I thought it may be something for me but clearly he had other things on his mind he finally revealed that he has bought a lump of deltic (to add to all his other junk) and I have to alter my whole routine on Monday to wait in for it to be delivered!

Friday 12 September 2008

Does it Really Matter?

Robbie and I don't see much of each other during the week, but even in the short time that we are together we end up talking about trains! Yesterday evening there was an advert on TV, I think it was for insurance, but it had a brief shot of a train and then you saw the people inside the train discussing insurance or whatever it was. I made the foolish mistake of asking Robbie about the livery of the train, he confidently told me what it was and then he got one of his books out to show me. I told him he was wrong and we got into a pantomime argument of "yes it was, no it wasn't" with neither of us willing to give in. Robbie decided to prove that he was right by rewinding the TV to check - he was wrong!! Then he spent an age debating (with himself) whether or not the interior shots were from the same train, he decided that he didn't think they were, I couldn't care less, I had lost the will to live by then!

Thursday 11 September 2008

Rain Dance

When will it stop raining? I am so fed up with all this miserable weather, if it continues like this we will soon need an ark instead of a house. On Saturday it rained so heavily that the front and back gardens were covered in water. Robbie was off on his rail tour, but when I told him about it he didn't seem that bothered, he just told me about all the problems with flooding that had affected the railways. The standing water soaked away after a few hours but the constant rain means the ground is waterlogged. Robbie still hasn't finished putting the fence up because it is too wet, and Meg the dog (who has feet like a cart horse) trails muddy footprints through the house every time she goes out for a walk. Robbie says he gets blamed for most things that go wrong in the house and I am beginning to wonder if he has been doing a 'rain dance' to avoid doing the fence. He had used up every other excuse for delay and it had become a very sore subject, so bad weather was about the only way left to avoid finishing the job. I wonder if he will get it done this weekend? I will not be holding my breath!

Wednesday 10 September 2008

Five Minutes Peace

I had a back to front sort of day yesterday. I had one or two messy jobs so afterwards I looked forward to sinking into a nice relaxing bath. I took a cup of tea with me and I switched on the radio ready for ten minutes of 'me' time without the rest of the world intruding into my thoughts. I love Robbie, but it is nice to have the occasional break from the constant chatter about the railways. The bath was lovely but as I listened to Radio 4 I realised that they were discussing – trains! In fact they were discussing ticketing, permitted routes etc., I can't seem to get away from train talk. I could have got out of the bath and switched off the radio, but once in the bath I was staying put. I just didn't listen, I have a very well developed 'deaf ear' – I can't imagine why!

Tuesday 9 September 2008

Fighting a Losing Battle

Sometimes I feel that I am fighting a losing battle, every day I do several loads of washing but we appear to have a self filling laundry basket and however much I do there is still more waiting. There is an unwritten rule that any money that turns up in the washing pile goes into my money jar. Usually it is the odd coin from Sam's pocket (why do boys trousers have so many pockets these days?) but on Sunday I found that Robbie had decided to go one step further in the money laundering stakes. He had left a £5 note in his shirt pocket and it emerged from the washing machine damp but intact, I wasn't allowed to keep it for my jar, but at least it didn't stain the shirt.

On the subject of laundry, Robbie hasn't adapted well to doing his own ironing, in fact on several occasions I have come down to be confronted by a vision of Homer Simpson in his pants busy ironing a shirt – it is not the best start to the day! I think a week of doing his own shirts has made him more appreciative. I spoke to him about it at the weekend and he squirmed when I reminded him what he had said the week before. I decided to give him another chance as far as the ironing is concerned, but if he complains again I will starch his smalls!

Monday 8 September 2008

Pillow Talk

After coming to bed on Thursday night and ranting about Barry Doe, Robbie found that his list of banned subjects had a new name on it – I am so sick of hearing about that man! Robbie was going on a rail tour on Saturday, but it didn't involve an overnight stay so just as I settled down to sleep on Friday night, Robbie plodded up the stairs and plonked himself on the bed with a thud (as usual). I was jolted awake. He was looking forward to the rail tour and he checked the alarm clock several times as he talked about the route, and all sorts of details of the trip. He wasn't exactly talking to me, it was more like speaking his thoughts, I like to listen to the radio at night because I can switch it off when I am tired – if only it was that simple to silence Robbie. I usually give him a sharp prod, occasionally it makes him shut up but usually it just jolts him on to another subject. After pausing for breath he launched into a completely different subject – the demon from the deep north! An irritating chap, bigger in ego than brain cells who has a one man crusade about coach replacements. Robbie muttered darkly about him for a while, he made me laugh because he refers to him as 'Barry's brother in the north' – another haemorrhoid, no wonder Robbie never sits still!

The alarm woke me in the middle of the night and I got up to take Robbie to the station, then I went back to bed, to get a couple more hours sleep. I was enjoying it until Robbie rang to tell me about the lack of coffee at Northampton and about his breakfast – typical Robbie!

I had a busy day, I have been looking after my mum's 3 cats and 2 tortoise for the last fortnight and I was glad that my mum and stepfather were coming home on Saturday to relieve me of the responsibility. One of the cats is very old, close to 20 years old, she is quite frail and she needs a special diet so it was a bit of a worry to look after her. I picked up some shopping for them then I went over to tidy their house and to make sure that everything was ready for their return. Then I went home to do my own cleaning and to tackle yet another washing mountain.

Robbie rang me a number of times during the day, he really enjoyed his day, but it was almost midnight when he arrived back at the station so it was a long day for me too. He talked non stop on the way home and he was still talking when we went to bed, it didn't matter because I was so tired that I fell asleep. Sunday morning was wet and miserable, but at least I had Robbie's undivided attention. He got up to make me a cup of tea and when he came back to bed he brought two boxed Bachmann wagons with him, Satlink Western to be exact, he started to tell me all about them and he was rather hurt when I wasn't interested! Men!!

Friday 5 September 2008

Nightmare!

Robbie asked me very sheepishly if I would pick him up from the station late on Saturday evening when he gets back from the rail tour. I can think of better things to be doing at that time of night but I agreed on the strict understanding that tomato ketchup should be off the agenda for the foreseeable future. I didn't realise how soon I would have cause to regret banning that subject. When Robbie finally came to bed, he cuddled up to me and started talking about Barry Doe. What is the opposite of an aphrodisiac? It is not a pleasing thought at any time but at bed time it is a nightmare.

Barry Doe has annoyed Robbie and many others by repeatedly publishing inaccurate and unfounded criticism of Cross Country Trains. They say it is a big man who can admit his mistakes and apologise, if that is the case I suggest that Barry Doe would be at home in Lilliput. Having had thoughts of Barry Doe forced upon me, I lay there listening to Robbie's rant and feeling absolutely sick and tired of that man's name. I quite like reading Rail Magazine, but just recently it hasn't been good for my blood pressure (or Robbie's) and I began to wonder if I should ban it from the house and allow Robbie to buy his other favourite magazine instead. I know he sneaks it in 'under plain cover' from time to time, but maybe I should just let him get every issue because it would not annoy me as much as Rail Magazine has recently. Just in case you were wondering, the other magazine is The Grocer!

Getting back to Cross Country, I have thought of a good marketing idea for them. I think they should should take out huge advertisements in Rail to inform the travelling public that Barry Doe is banned for life from travelling on their services. I'm sure it would be a great selling point. Can you imagine sitting next to him on a long journey? That man is probably responsible for driving hundreds of passengers away from the railways for ever! Come to think of it if Cross Country did that the other TOC's would probably do the same. Perhaps they could find a remote stretch of preserved railway that he could travel backwards and forwards on just to keep him occupied - preferably on a remote island somewhere.

Thursday 4 September 2008

Fitting In

I have committed a terrible sin and Robbie is beside himself with frustration and fury. I arrived home from work last night totally exhausted and struggling to walk because I have hurt my ankle, I sank into the chair and looked forward to relaxing with a nice cup of tea. My hopes were dashed when Robbie loomed in the doorway like the honey monster, at first words failed him (yes really!) but he was holding a large tomato ketchup bottle and gesticulating wildly, so I knew what was troubling him. I had bought the wrong size tomato ketchup bottle! Unfortunately Robbie regained the powers of speech, and he continued to moan about it all evening, in fact he was still bleating on about it when he went off to work this morning. He insists that it will not fit in the right place in the fridge and he is unwilling to let me put it in a different place in the fridge because he claims that he would have to rearrange the entire fridge! This obsessiveness about the fridge really drives me mad but as the saying goes 'what can't be cured must be endured' so if it makes him feel better he will have to rearrange the fridge. I bought the larger size because it was on offer and much cheaper than usual, in fact I am tempted to stock up while it is on offer! Life is all about compromise, in my case I allow Robbie to be the 'King of the Fridge' but he has to compromise too, so the large size stays. After all he needs another late night lift on Saturday, so he may decide that the ketchup bottle is not such a big deal in the end.

Wednesday 3 September 2008

The Waiting Game

Robbie went to a gig in Birmingham on Monday evening, apparently it was one of his favourite groups called The Wedding Present. Robbie was incredulous that I have managed to get through life this far without ever hearing anything about them, and he decided to put that right by providing a potted history of the group and then making a strange noise which was allegedly singing. My eyes glazed over and I decided that in this case ignorance was bliss. My ears were still recovering from the tuneless roar that Robbie calls singing when he asked me to pick him up from the station at midnight. I agreed on the strict understanding that he would not sing to me again. I duly arrived at the station at 11.55pm just one minute before the train was due in. Within seconds a text arrived to say that they were delayed at Rugby! A succession of gloomy texts followed and I sat there feeling cold and tired until the intrepid traveller finally arrived at 1.00am, I was not impressed. The journey home consisted of a long rant from Robbie on the subject of Network Rail!

Robbie is going on a charter trip on Saturday and apparently his life will not be fulfilled unless I let him go to an open day at a cement works on Sunday. Well, how can I compete with the attractions of a cement works? One thing is absolutely certain, it will be a very long time before I agree to pick him up from the station at midnight!!