More Wandering Wallets

The strangest thing happened yesterday, my phone rang and I thought it was Robbie ringing to apologise for being totally out of order the previous evening. It wasn't him, it was the police asking to speak to my late husband. I took over his mobile number and I still occasionally get calls from recruitment companies and such like so I asked who it was before explaining that he was dead. The policeman was more than a little surprised and told me that his wallet had been found dropped in a shop door way. This was more than a little disconcerting, I was afraid that someone had stolen his identity or something dubious was going on. To cut a long story short the policeman came to see me and it turned out to be Sam's wallet, he had his dad's business card and private health insurance card in it. Having provided suitable proof and signed the policeman's notebook the wallet was returned to me complete with the £20 that had been in it. It is nice to think that there are still some honest people around. Losing wallets is becoming a bit of a habit with the men of the house, I don't think they are safe to be allowed out on their own!

The Big Attraction

Laura was very pleased with her university visit. When I picked them up from the station on Wednesday evening she excitedly told me about the student accommodation, she described three different locations and I couldn't help smiling when she described each one by the distance from her favourite clothes shop. Even the furthest away is only a ten minute walk, the university seems very good but I can't help thinking that the proximity to the city centre is a big attraction for Laura.

University Visit

Robbie survived the day without his dongle! When I spoke to him this morning he was still in bed enjoying a cup of coffee. The visit to the university does not start until later so Robbie has plans for breakfast at one of his favourite places, in fact the whole trip seems to be planned around food and trains - no change there then! I hope Laura gets on OK at the university today, she has her heart set on going to Plymouth so I hope the course lives up to her expectations. Sam and I are enjoying the peace and quiet, it is amazing how quiet the house is without Robbie and Laura!

Disaster - No Dongle!

Robbie has lost his dongle, well he hasn't exactly lost it, he left it at home on the dining table (it is the thing he sticks in the back of the laptop to access the internet). He and Laura are on their way to Plymouth for an overnight stay because Laura has to visit the university for a preview, she plans to study Geography there next year. Robbie was so busy choosing suitable clothing that he forgot to take his dongle. When I spoke to him on the phone his reaction to forgetting it was totally out of proportion, I seriously wondered if he would come back for it!

The pictures are of my nephew Oliver, he is growing up fast and he seems love all the attention he gets from his cousins.

An Echo

It wasn't a very nice weekend because a certain person was so impossible that I am surprised that he survived to tell the tale. It is surprising how irritating very minor things can be, by last night I was at the end of my tether, He demanded to watch a really dry documentary about engineering, I grudgingly agreed and decided to get on with some work on my laptop, but I became aware of a very loud noise like someone listening to music on headphones. I looked up and there he was tapping away on his laptop with his headphones in, and the boring program still on TV. I kept making him turn his music down and he kept turning it up again until I felt murderous. I think the most annoying thing of all is him being over loud and 'visible'. We went to my mums in the afternoon and every time I started to speak I found that after a couple of words Robbie's voice took up the conversation. I asked him several times if there was an echo in the room, but it didn't stop him so I was more direct and told him to shut up – that didn't work either! I think it would have been necessary to render him unconscious in order to shut him up! I will leave him at home next time.

Problems with Pants

I am seriously annoyed with Robbie this morning, we had another one of those mornings with him claiming that I was depriving him of his pants. In fact he went as far as to accuse me of hoarding his knickers in the laundry basket! How ridiculous - that would be a bio hazard! Being ranted at at 5am really doesn't put me in the best of moods. I wish he would get it into his head that nobody is interested in his pants, especially not the unwashed variety! I think I will have to start setting out his clothes the night before, I used to do that for the children when they were younger. On the subject of young children, Robbie admitted that when he was little he used to have his gloves on a string through his coat to stop him losing them, I think I will have to do something similar with his wallet to avoid any more mishaps. I was very impressed by the banks, he reported his cards lost/stolen at about midnight on Tuesday/Wednesday and his replacement cards arrived in the post on Thursday morning, that is very good service.

In a Queue

Robbie seems surprisingly chilled about losing his wallet, all he could talk about last night was train stuff. He seemed very impressed that a charter train had gone through Northampton - I was less impressed! I had spent what seemed like hours on the telephone in a queue, trying to sort out the mess caused by lost credit cards. He is a second card holder on my credit card, so he was only able to put a stop on that account, I had to ring them to go through a whole set of questions with them. Then I had to try to rescue my Boots card points, I had let him take the card to get some aftershave, on Sunday, I had a lot of money on it so I was very upset about it being lost. I hate having to queue on the telephone, they always want to inflict dreadful music on me. I detest classical music, any sort of music played via the phone sounds horrible, it is irritating and by the time I get to speak to a live human being I feel feel murderous!

Lost

Robbie went to London last night to see a group called Late of the Pier. He said he really enjoyed the gig but his legs were hurting and on his way home he found that his wallet was gone. He doesn't know if it was lost or stolen, but it caused a lot of fuss putting a stop on his cards and he was upset about losing his money and other oddments that were in the wallet. At least his rail tickets and passes were not in the wallet, that really would have caused problems.

Differences

I am still working on my family tree. Recently the 1911 census became available and it has been really interesting to find out a little more about our grandparents families. Robbie has been fascinated to find out more about his family, they were less static than mine and several of them went to USA so we have some strange place names to cope with. However the regional differences in place names between Northamptonshire and Staffordshire have caused Robbie considerable amusement. He was helpless with laughter at my attempts to pronounce the names of places in and around Walsall, but he still struggles some of our local place names. It is surprising that a distance of only 50 miles or so far apart in terms of accent and outlook.

More Random Ramblings

I am used to Robbie's random comments, but he still manages to surprise me. This morning in bed he snuggled up next to me and asked if I remembered the kind of knitting needle holders they had in the 1970's. I made the mistake of saying that I didn't remember anything about knitting in the 1970's, so he embarked on a detailed account of knitting needle storage containers. I was just contemplating murder when he distracted himself by remembering those plastic pencil cases on the shape of a large pencil. That led on to memories of his childhood pencil cases, then he got very excited as he described his favourite ruler and before I could stop it he was talking about his eraser collection again! This is far too random even by Robbie's standards.

New Shoes

Robbie got new shoes last week, well they were boots to be exact, he walks much better in boots. They were Dr Martens as usual, but more beautiful than the usual clumpy old things that he wears. When he got home from work he couldn't stop talking about the new boots and he kept taking them out of the box to show me how nice they were, they were nice but I can't manage too much excitement about a pair of shoes. Having not got the desired response he tucked the box containing the new boots under his arm and left the room. He appeared again a few minutes later wearing the the new boots, he did a few laps around the lounge, stopped, did a twirl, then changed direction and continued to walk around the lounge. It was a bit like horseless dressage! He wanted me to admire the boots and I did my very best to keep a straight face as I admired his footwear, but he had changed out of his work suit and the sight of him cavorting around the lounge in smart new boots and PJ's proved too much for me. It had a certain comedy value, but Robbie was most indignant when he saw me laughing!

Polish Jaffa Cakes

I think someone must have kidnapped the real Robbie and left me with an overgrown toddler. He was in a strop when I got home and in the process of telling him to grow up I mentioned that I had bought something that he would like and that really set him off. He found my Tesco receipt and checked through every item until he spotted Polish jaffa cakes on the list. He rampaged around the house looking for them and demanding to be told where they were. That sort of behaviour made me more determined to not to tell him, he even searched the car but in the end he had to give up. I left him to calm down for a few minutes, then I got the jaffa cakes for him, but he told me I could keep them, he didn't want them any more. I knew Robbie well enough to know that if I opened the packet and put them near Robbie he would not be able to resist, his willpower lasted for about a minute and a half!!

If you like Jaffa cakes you would love the Polish version, they are called Delicje.

Essential Viewing

Photographer: Ian Britton FreeFoto.com

I really love Robbie, but just occasionally it would be nice if he wasn't quite so exhausting. When I got home from work tonight he searched through the channels on sky to find something for me to watch. He found something so exciting that he gave a little shriek of joy as he settled down to watch Extreme Trains. Oddly enough I felt like shouting too but in my case joy was the last thing on my mind! I could hardly cope with all the excitement, I can't imagine how I had survived until now without knowing about the technical differences between track maintenance USA style and the way we do things in England! Then when the endurance test was finally over he swapped channel to watch Shameless and I gave up hope of getting any sense out of him this evening.

That Monday Feeling

On Sunday night it snowed again, then it froze and this morning the roads were white with ice and frozen snow. I had promised to get Robbie to the station one way or another because he thought the buses would not run. It was the journey from hell, I was sliding everywhere and the state of the roads around the station car park was terrifying. I was thankful to get back in one piece and I was determined not to go out again until it was safe to drive. Laura was overjoyed because her school was closed again due to the icy roads, Sam was devastated because his school was open and he had to walk there, he made me feel so guilty.

As the day went on the roads improved and by late this afternoon it rained a sort of sleet type of rain, there was water on the roads, but it wasn't taking the snow away, it was hanging on as if it was waiting for more snow. By the time I left work it was snowing heavily and settling, the roads were already dangerous and rapidly becoming worse. Robbie was beside himself with frustration, he said he absolutely has to get to work tomorrow, but I don't think he will get very far. I have just been outside and taken these photos, we are back to square one with deep snow on top of ice again. It really isn't funny any more!

In a Flap!

I don't believe it, we have had more snow this evening and Robbie is rampaging around the house flapping his arms and ranting about having to get to work tomorrow. I understand how he feels, I am seriously fed up with the snow too, but I don't see why he is blaming me for the weather.

Insanity!

Photographer: Ian Britton - FreeFoto.com

On Saturday morning we were still snowed in, but Robbie went to extraordinary lengths (and expense) to get himself to Birmingham International in time to join the charter trip Carlisle (via Settle and Carlisle). At one stage it looked as if he wouldn't get there, but in the end he made it in time. He was surprised to find that as he went north there was less snow, then no snow until they got past Crewe, then there was beautiful white scenery to enjoy from the comfort of the train. It was well past midnight when he got home, he was cold and exhausted but he'd enjoyed the day.

More Snow

These pictures were taken on Saturday, we had loads of snow in Northamptonshire. I had to go to my mums with some medication for her dog and I fell over on the ice so I am feeling a bit bruised today.

Going Nowhere

Robbie got as far as Norhampton Station, but he couldn't get to Birmingham because of the snow.

Snowman

Sam proudly showed off the photo he had taken of a snowman he'd made. It looked good, the snowman had an interesting face and seemed to have it's own personality. There was just one problem, it was wearing my son's best coat! He only had it about a month ago and filling it with snow is not the ideal way to treat an expensive coat. Kids!!

Snow Joke!

Robbie can be so annoying, especially when it comes to time. He deals with everything the way he deals with a train timetable, always in the 24hr clock and always timed to the second. This in especially annoying when he phones me asking for a lift, a simple ten to, or quarter past (or whatever) would be so much easier to deal with. He rang me yesterday to tell me that heavy snow was expected at 04.00 the following morning, I wasn't keen to know that more snow was coming our way, but it his use of the 24hr clock that irritated me and I told him sharply that you can't time nature. When I got home from work he told me that the timing for the snow had been revised to 03.00, and he got an even sharper answer from me. So it was infuriating when I got up to visit the bathroom during the night and found that his prediction had been spot in and we had several inches of snow! The roads have not been gritted and traffic has more or less ground to a halt, so there was no chance of going anywhere safely this morning. Robbie is working from home and Sam and Laura are out playing in the snow because their schools are closed. The previous snow had become compacted and turned to a sheet of ice on the pavements and minor roads, so the new snow is deceptively dangerous to walk on or drive on and I dread to think what will happen tonight when this lot freezes!

Peace and Quiet

The snow is more or less gone from the roads but it froze last night and the roads were very icy this morning. It was nice to have Robbie at working at home yesterday but I couldn't cope with it too often. He kept talking to me when I was trying to do my work and he found a variety of reasons for me to reorganise my schedule and consequently I still had work to do at 11pm! He kept giving me updates on the state of the railways, I didn't need to know, I wasn't going anywhere. Then just when I was deep in thought he would impart totally pointless snippets of information, at one point he told me about a company that was changing the size of the packs of batteries it sells I kept telling him that I didn't need to know, but the random information kept on coming. I am looking forward to a more peaceful day today.

The Never Ending Journey

Robbie, stubbornly decided to travel despite the snow yesterday and as I predicted he had big problems getting home again. He finally arrived home at 10.45pm, tired, cold and starving. For once food was was not the first thing on his mind (but it was a very close second) he was upset because he had ripped his trousers on a Voyager table. So that is another pair of trousers written off, I'm sure that man keeps Marks and Spencer in business!

This morning the snow has frozen, I couldn't even get into my car and because the doors were frozen shut and when I eventually got into the car my wipers were frozen solid and it was just a case of waiting for the heater get to work on the windscreen. The roads are treacherous and Robbie wisely decided that he should work from home today.

Too Much Excitement

When Robbie got home on Friday evening he told me that he had brought something exciting for us to look at over the weekend. After his 'exciting' conversation about his eraser collection last weekend I didn't have high expectations, but I didn't expect toe curling boredom. He had brought home the Hornby model railway catalogue - and he is still looking at it!

Robbie is travelling north today, so I am expecting bad weather (it always happens when he goes north!)