Normal Service has been Resumed

After our trip to the Warley Model Railway Exhibition we went to Birmingham New Street and caught a Cross Country Service to York. I always enjoy travelling on Cross Country services despite their inability to make a drinkable cup of tea, but when we joined the train I was shocked by the state of the first class coach. I have never seen such mess, there were dirty cups, food wrappings and crumpled newspaper everywhere. The were not many people in first class, but it was impossible for us to find a seat with a clean table. Robbie put down his bags and rucksack and morphed into a tornado as he whisked through the carriage cleaning each table, and carrying all the rubbish to the bin in the vestibule. Before long first class was restored to order and Robbie took his seat. The lady in the seat behind was most impressed and asked why he did it. He told her that he was proud of working for Cross Country and he hoped that any member of staff would pitch in to help if they saw a mess. He didn't tell her that the train manager had watched him open mouthed as he cleaned the carriage, he didn't even say thank you.


I enjoyed the journey, but I struggled to stay awake the early start and the busy morning at Warley were catching up on me. I tried to read my new book about the railways around Newquay but my eyes kept closing and I couldn't concentrate. I decided to look out of the window instead, even a brief stop at Sheffield station brings back many happy memories of my time there. It was a very long time ago but I loved living there. 


As we moved on towards Doncaster the 'trolley dolly' put in an appearance. The first people that she came to asked her for a tea and a coffee and she rudely told them that she was not doing complementary drinks she was only doing the retail trolley. She spoke to them as if they were naughty children. When she got to the couple sitting behind us they asked for a tea and a coffee, again she said that she wasn't doing complementary drinks. The man said that they were so desperate for a drink that they didn't mind paying, but she pushed the trolley away without further comment. In due course she came back and provided complementary drinks for those that wanted them, but at best her attitude was graceless and she made the people who wanted a drink so badly wait until last. Maybe she'd had a bad day, but it left me feeling disappointed because most Cross Country staff are not like that, they are very good and she had let them down. 

Photo by David McCormick

I enjoyed spending time at York station, we went to have a coffee and watch the world go by at the old signal box. Or to be more exact we watched the trains go by, Robbie was so busy jotting down information that he almost forgot to drink his coffee! Our journey back couldn't have been more different, the train manager was very good at his job and the Retail Service Manager was exceptional.
By the time we got back to Northampton I just wanted to curl up and go to sleep, but we'd had a lovely day.

Reverse Psychology

Photo by Hyperen

I think there has been a bit too much reverse  psychology going on recently and for once Robbie got the better of me! I suppose I have to let him win once in a while, but he needn't think he is going to make a habit of it.


A week or so ago Robbie announced that he wanted to go to a steam rally on Saturday, he was absolutely determined and he completely ignored my protests. I don't cope well with noise and my asthma has been dreadful recently (oil seed rape season always sets it off) so I really didn't fancy trailing around all day being expected to admire noisy, smelly engines so I came up with a cunning plan. I told him that I would really love to see the sea and I would like to travel along the sea wall at Dawlish again, we haven't done that for ages. Robbie jumped at the chance to play trains all day, so I thought it was a case of mission accomplished. Maybe I was distracted by the referendum and the local government elections, but I didn't spot that Baldrick Burgess was hatching his own cunning plan.


He was late home on Friday (due to computer problems at work) so by the time we talked in detail about our plans for Saturday it was very late and I was tired. I asked what time we needed to get up and he told me some crazy time even before the birds get up! I told him that there was no way that I was getting up at that time on a Saturday, I asked for a train at a more reasonable time but he said there wasn't one. I knew he was being evasive and he was not happy about being questioned because he had the look (you know the one with the lip and folded arms). Eventually I dragged the truth out of him, he wanted to go early because he wanted us to go to Plymouth on an HST rather than a Voyager, but he didn't want to tell me because I prefer Voyagers.


Saturday dawned and I was wide awake, but not too keen to leave my nice warm bed. Robbie was sound asleep and my feeble efforts to wake him failed miserably (as planned) and before long it was too late to get to Birmingham in time for the HST. We got up and got ready at a more leisurely pace, in fact Robbie seemed to be dawdling which seemed a bit odd to me. All went well, we caught the train at Northampton with enough time to buy a coffee and a bacon roll and we had a slow but adequate journey to Birmingham. Robbie raced off to buy some sandwiches and we caught the train without having to do the usual sprint between platforms. It was then that it became clear that I had been double crossed - it was an HST! I know some people like them but I find them uncomfortable, but at least it made Robbie happy. It was an OK journey but unusually for CrossCountry we had very poor service. No one checked our tickets for the whole journey and we had to go from Birmingham until way passed Bristol without a drink. When I finally got a cup of tea it was diabolical, I really don't know why CrossCountry can't make a decent cup of tea. The   RSM looked like a descendent of Fred Flintstone, he lacked any conversation skills, he had no belt, no tie, the wrong shirt and he was in dire need of a shave. However it wasn't a bad journey and the sea wall was as wonderful as ever.


Robbie was a cunning little devil because he had even worked out for us to come back by HST but after negotiations we got off at Totness and caught a Voyager back to Birmingham. It was a really good journey, the two RSMs (they changed during the journey) were fantastic, the tea on a Voyager is moderately better than on an HST (but it still tastes like pond water).  It was a lovely day out and even our journey back to Northampton on London Midland was good, the train manager was very friendly and he had a lovely accent. 

On and Off the Rails

Yesterday was such a fantastic day. Robbie had caught me at a weak moment and apparently I had agreed to go to Newquay on the train with him. I like Newquay and I like Voyagers and (most of the time) I like Robbie, but I don't like getting up before the birds on a Saturday morning and all that effort for 20 minutes in Newquay didn't seem like my idea of fun. I mentioned the National Railway Museum to Robbie and before I knew it he'd had the idea to go to York instead of Newquay - it works like magic!

The nice thing about York is that we didn't have to get up quite so early, but it was still a struggle to leave my nice warm bed for a chilly early morning at Northampton Station. The journey to York was nice despite the non existent catering on the CrossCountry service to York. I fell in love with the voice of our train manager, he was a really good train manager too, I could have listened to his voice all day. I enjoyed the journey and before long we arrived at York, the station proved disappointing, very poor customer service and grim toilets. Northampton station may be nothing to boast about but at least we get hot water, soap and working hand dryers in the ladies toilets!

I loved the NRM when I eventually got the chance to see it - it took a huge effort to drag Robbie out of the shop! I headed straight for the Royal trains and I could have stayed there all day because there was so much to see. Robbie enjoyed it too but he wanted to see as much as possible so reluctantly I followed him to one of the other exhibition halls. As we walked in I noticed that the person on duty at the information point was fast asleep, not a good sign! I found it a bit noisy but I really enjoyed looking at everything. It was ideal for me because you were allowed to touch all the exhibits and there was so much beautiful polished wood and lovely shiny metal that I couldn't resist stroking it.

All too soon we were back in the shop on our way out. Robbie was just like a big kid, I bought him a railway book that he simply couldn't live without, as well as a few postcards and a NRM canvas bag. He got so excited about it all and he went out proudly carrying his new bag - I didn't like to point out the likeness to Roy Cropper! We walked into the city to get a late lunch before heading home. I wasn't too keen on York as a place, I don't think I have ever come across a place with so many weird and peculiar people in my life, it was a bit disconcerting.

Our journey home was good in parts, the bit from York to Birmingham was tolerable, the train manager was OK (but not as nice as the one in the morning) but the trolley dolly was totally useless. She was certainly not any one's idea of 'dolly' and she wasn't much good at the trolley bit either. If CrossCountry are paying her to do that job they are being ripped off, maybe she is on some sort of work therapy for the bewildered! I was excited about going on a Virgin Voyager from Birmingham to Rugby, but it wasn't wonderful, I almost got frostbite from the air conditioning and the quiet coach sounded more like the Tower of Babel. For me the last train of the day was also the best, a London Midland green train, Robbie hates them, but it was warm, quiet and comfortable.

We have decided to go back to the NRM very soon!

Robbie's Favourite Advert

My favourite advert is the one celebrating 25 years of Virgin Atlantic. Robbie loves it too but unfortunately it makes him get all nostalgic about Wimpy food and that gets a bit boring after a while. However that is not his favourite advert, his favourite is the CrossCountry advert when it comes on we all have to be quiet (except Robbie who makes little moans of extacy). It is quite good, but I can't work out why it seems to be snowing in the advert, after all when it snows trains usually grind to a halt!

Longing for Normality

I was so angry with Robbie last night that I shouted at him. He didn't have much to say during the evening because he was glued to this laptop. I was busy too and by the time I went to bet at about a quarter past midnight 'Noddy' was dozing with his head resting on the computer keyboard. I woke him up, but I knew that he would be dozing again within moments, so I left him to it and went to bed. I was woken by a thumping and bumping in the bedroom and Robbie spoke to me in a sergeant major sort of voice. What he said was a bit 'out of focus' because I was sleepy, so I ignored him and tried to cling on to sleep. The next thing I knew something sailed past my face and thumped onto the pillow, I don't know what it was but it was intended to wake me up and it worked. Robbie informed me that he had been talking to me and with menace in my voice I asked what was important enough to wake me up. I am used to Robbie, but I couldn't believe the answer - he wanted to tell me that CrossCountry had produced a blow up guitar to celebrate the Reading Music Festival. He had seriously woken me up to talk about a blow up guitar! I did a spot of 'fortune telling' and all was silent until Robbie's voice broke through the darkness to inform me that it was a limited edition blow up guitar. How do I make him understand that I have absolutely no interest in blow up guitars, not even limited editions!!

I thought he would try to be a little more more 'normal' this morning, but he only had one topic of conversation - the pros and cons of the new hybrid FGW season ticket. it almost made blow up guitars seem interesting.

A Lot of Nonsense

Some things just feel right, but it isn't possible to explain why. I feel like that about Virgin trains, I love travelling on Virgin trains, I feel comfortable and relaxed, but it is hard to explain exactly what it is that makes me feel like that. I was so sad when Virgin lost the Cross Country franchise and like many others I had serious misgivings about the future of Cross Country. Time has proved me wrong, my fears for Cross Country have not been realised, in fact I have been pleasantly surprised. I don't think much of the livery and they lack the Virgin 'flair' but Cross Country is OK, in fact it is better than OK. There is just one thing I can't work out, why does Barry Doe have such a grudge against Cross Country?

In the latest Rail magazine Boring Barry posed the question “Why not avoid Cross Country altogether?” He seems to have taken great exception to Cross Country's attempt to get people to change trains at places more suitable than Birmingham New Street. I have shared my thoughts about Birmingham New Street previously, so I will be brief, I detest the place, I would rather visit the dentist than change trains at New Street! So if the company can suggest ways to avoid New Street, I'm interested. In fact I would be willing to accept a slightly longer journey if I could avoid that god forsaken place. Barry Doe gave an example, apparently the Cross Country leaflet advises passengers from Reading an the South Coast travelling to Scotland and the North East to change at Leamington Spa if a through train is not available. Boring Barry calculates that it would add up to an hour to the journey time and it would involve two changes. It may come as a surprise to him but he is not the only person in the country who can read a timetable and he is not the only person capable of comparing journey options - but I must admit few of us are as anal about it as him! I consider that I am a fairly ordinary passenger, if I needed to make that journey I would check the timetable, consider the options available and plan my journey accordingly. I do not blindly follow advice in leaflets without checking the facts.

He also claims that he can do Bournemouth to Edinburgh via Waterloo and Kings Cross in seven hours, so he can not imagine why anyone would use the Cross Country service. If he was a little more in touch with reality he would know that negotiating London stations and the the underground is challenging for anyone, but for passengers with heavy luggage, disabled travellers and people with children, it is almost impossible! Even the dreaded New Street is preferable to that!

Avoiding the complication and trauma of a journey across London would be one of my top priorities, so the temptation of lower walk on fares, more frequent services, more comfortable trains and and better on board services would not tempt me to travel via London. I am just an ordinary traveller, but I am not stupid, I would plan a trip like that and I would not pay a walk on fare anyway. As for longer more comfortable trains, someone should really explain to Barry that bigger (and longer) does not necessarily mean better!! I find Cross Country services comfortable, and judging by the number of people who use their services, so do many other people. What Barry doesn't seem to understand is that most people travel on trains because they are going somewhere, it is a means to an end, not an end in itself. They want a reasonably comfortable, trouble free journey, but to them it is just a journey and their main aim is to get there more or less on time. There are plenty of obsessives and rail enthusiasts who focus only on the journey, the route or the rolling stock, but the great majority of the travelling public use the railways for the purpose intended, to travel from one place to another. Barry Doe does not seem to understand that his myopic nit picking shows no understanding of the needs and aspirations of ordinary travellers.

Hopefully Barry will follow his own advice, and avoid Cross Country altogether. It should be a great selling point, passengers would flock to Cross Country services to avoid Boring Barry. I don't know what caused his rancour and resentment but I am sick of him having a pop at Cross Country and he would be doing us all a favour if he would stay away He is like a buzzing wasp - an annoying irrelevance!

XC Refurbished HST

On Thursday the BBC Midlands Today news program had a clip about the return of the HST. We don't get that TV channel in Northampton so on Friday Robbie sent me a link so that I could watch the clip. It was good, I still think the Cross Country livery lacks sparkle, in fact it is downright dull, but I can see the attraction of the HST, it looks as if they have done a very good job with the refurbishment of the trains and they certainly seem to be popular with the passengers. The HST's are the same age as Robbie, but after their twenty million pound upgrade they are looking better than ever. Hopefully they will continue in service for many years because Robbie loves them and anything that keeps him happy gets my vote. Talking of upgrades there was a news item last week about the staggering amount of money that the Republican party have spent on Sarah Palin's wardrobe. In her case I think they wasted their money, she is still very scary. Andy Cooper the MD of Cross Country appeared in the news clip about the HST what he said was interesting, but it crossed my mind that the company could learn from the political parties and use a stylist to make him seem a little more 'cuddly' and exciting.

Uninspired

Robbie got so cross with me yesterday. He is full of enthusiasm for the newly refitted Cross Country HST, he had been rather doubtful about the refit and he says it has turned out better than he expected and it doesn't feel cramped. He has talked about little else for the last couple of days, but after a while I stop listening – everyone has there limits!

Robbie showed me some photos of the new HST yesterday and he was furious when I said I was unimpressed. The Cross Country livery is OK but it is a bit dull, it isn't going to turn any heads and as far as I'm concerned that is how the new interior feels. From the pictures it looks cramped, maybe it doesn't feel like that when you are there, but it is so dull and boring, I can't imagine anyone actually wanting to travel on it. There again, I am writing from a female point of view, Robbie would travel on it all day long if he could – but he's unique. There are so many good things about Cross Country and in many ways they can be quite imaginative, so why do their trains have to be so dull!

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!

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.

Mr Angry!

Robbie's trip to Leeds turned out to be a bit of an endurance test, he had to be up at 4.30am in order to be at the station in time for his train and he didn't arrive home again until nearly midnight. He was very tired but he was still talking about trains, he went on and on ...... and on about his December 08 timetable and the various problems he has to resolve. I am not that interested in the intricacies of timetable planning at the best of times, and I'm even less interested after midnight! I tried to get him to shut up, I even asked if he had mistaken me for Barry Doe, but that proved to be a big mistake. The mention of his name provoked a torrent of loud and very angry speech, I didn't understand the individual words, it sounded as if he was speaking 'Klingon' but the meaning was obvious - Barrie Doe was not in Robbie's good books! It was past midnight, but Robbie presented me with the offending article in Rail Magazine, Barry Doe was scathing about the pricing structure of Cross Country tickets. More words of 'Klingon' followed, then someone must have flicked a switch and Robbie lurched into fast forward mode and he began what promised to be a very long tirade about the inadequacies of the franchise process. I keep emergency supplies to cope with this type of crisis, there is only one proven way to make Robbie stop talking – feed him! Soon afterwards peace was restored and Robbie was tucking in to ham and mushroom tagliatelle. As for Barry Doe, I think he is quite funny when he has a rant, he is a bit like a Jack Russel terrier, he can't resist biting whichever ankle happens to be nearest. He may say that he wishes that Virgin had not lost the Cross Country franchise now, but he as been fairly nasty to them in the past.

Fame At Last!

Robbie is famous! He found that someone had posted a clip of the CrossCountry HST on Youtube. Robbie is the man in a bright yellow T Shirt hanging out of the window towards the end of the clip - don't blink or you will miss him!

If you share Robbie's passion for trains I am sure you will find lots of other interesting clips on Youtube, here are some by the same photographer. http://uk.youtube.com/user/37670productions

HST - Why All the Fuss?

Robbie decided that he absolutely had to work late on Thursday evening, I wasn't impressed because we have had so many disrupted meal times recently and the short notice meant I had to scrap my plans for an evening meal and start again. He promised that he would stay at home with me on Saturday to make up for his lateness and get some long overdue jobs done in the garden. When he got finally got home he was in a dreadful mood because I was forcing him to miss a momentous event – on Saturday the first properly owned CrossCountry HST would be in service. I wasn't impressed by this, after all it was only last Wednesday that Laura could have caught an HST from Leicester to Kettering, she chose to wait for the next train instead, she preferred the more modern Meridian to the old HST. I felt the need to tame the back garden was more pressing than the 'need' to travel there (wherever there may be) and back again on an HST.

Friday was equally disastrous Robbie was late home again and in a foul mood. He claimed he would be the laughingstock of the railway world if he didn't go on the HST the following day. Personally I didn't thing that would make much difference, but I had no intention of spending a wet Saturday with Robbie doing his Rumpelstilksin impression. I told him that I wasn't stopping him, but he needn't think I was going to get up in the middle of the night to drive him to the station. He stomped around the lounge claiming he couldn't go because he hadn't got any rolls or any meat for sandwiches. It was so ridiculous that Laura and Sam have been doing Robbie impressions all weekend! I had already been to Tesco's and Morrisons that day, but I had to go out again, to the small local Tesco's buy supplies for Robbie's day out! He spent the rest of the evening planning his route, believe it or not he was going all the way to York just to travel all the way from York to Plymouth on the HST. He was planning to leave at 4am to get to the town centre to catch a bus to Kettering station.

Saturday morning dawned and Robbie overslept, so once again I found myself driving to Kettering at the crack of dawn! I came home and went back to bed again, after all he wouldn't be home again until almost midnight so I would have a late night as well as an early morning! It was a lovely peaceful day and I got loads done, we are going on holiday next weekend so I have a lot of planning and packing to do.

Dave the cat has an infected eye so I have to take him back to the vet on Monday, he swore at me when I bathed it for him and when I put him down again he gave Oreo a clip around the ear on his way past him. I expect he will teach the vet a few new words too!

Coping Strategies

Recently a number of people have asked how I cope with Robbie, I don't really see it as coping with him, I want to be with him. You could just as well ask him how he copes with me! He is certainly more unique than most, and yes, I admit that he can be downright frustrating, but I think that has something to do with being male. On the whole I am supportive of his interests, after all while he is playing trains or going to gigs he isn't getting into trouble, and he could have chosen far more expensive hobbies. I guess the answer to how I cope with Robbie lies in the blog, when he frustrates me I write about it, it prevents me from beating him to a pulp! He has many good points too, but perhaps I don't write about those things as much - there are limits to what I want to share!

I don't really mind Robbie's railway obsession, we have enough common ground to make it work. I am very interested in history and railway history is fascinating, so there is plenty to keep me interested. I enjoy travelling by train and it is nice to go on journeys together, but most of the time I don't go with Robbie on his days out. I have things to do at home and I would get bored at diesel galas and model rail exhibitions. You have to be certain kind of person to enjoy trundling backwards and forwards over the same stretch of track all day just to travel behind different engines. The one good thing about railway open days is that they make Robbie seem incredibly normal, there are some very odd specimens around. I think it is the sandals and socks that I find most alarming! To be fair most railway people I have met are nice, but however normal they seem they all have that obsessive streak to a greater or lesser extent.

Robbie has mentioned that one or two of his colleagues partners have threatened to write a blog too. I could always offer a spot for a guest blogger!! Robbie showed me the first edition of their staff magazine, it made me rather grateful because Robbie's obsessions are much more normal than some. Imagine having to cope with someone who is so obsessed with bottle openers that his collection has taken over an entire house! At least Robbie can't bring a deltic home!

Robbie's next hospital appointment came through last Friday and typically the date offered was for the week of our holiday. He has managed to change it, but it means that he will have to wait until mid June to get the results of his MRI scan.

Scary Images

The Burgess legs have had their first outing of the summer, on Saturday morning Robbie appeared in the lounge wearing his very loud patterned shorts and a summer T-shirt. He was heading out to the garden to remove a small tree so that we can replace several of the fence panels. He wasn't out there for very long before he returned claiming that it was all done, I think the tree took one look at his shorts and surrendered!

Saturday morning was a rare luxury, it was nice not to have to get up and start rushing around at the crack of dawn. Robbie was tired after his adventures on Friday so when I woke up there was only the radio to keep me company, but I enjoyed the luxury of doing absolutely nothing. Eventually Robbie woke claiming that he needed a cup of coffee before he could face the day. Finally he returned to bed with his coffee and I had his undivided attention or so I thought. It didn't take long before his mind had wandered and he started talking about an interesting article in Model Rail magazine. I don't suppose I will ever change him, but it doesn't stop me trying! Having worked extra hard to get his full attention, I thought I was winning until he suddenly announced that there was a long article about CrossCountry in Modern Railways! I know when I'm beaten so I asked if I could read the article, he wasn't too keen on that because he hadn't finished reading it himself, but eventually he relented. I'm glad I read it, there were some very good pictures of CrossCountry trains and a truly scary photo of Andy Cooper MD of CrossCountry - he looked like a very angry bank manager. The article made a lot of sense and it made him sound considerably more human than his photo would suggest. I'm still a bit of a sceptic about some of the changes that CrossCountry are committed to, especially the removal of the shops on their trains, but I must admit that Andy Cooper puts forward a very convincing business argument for the changes. The whole article made a lot of sense, perhaps it is just my interpretation but I got the feeling the moderate language used to describe the abject failures of Network Rail was a little unnatural.

Over the years my children have got me involved in all sorts of tasks and I have acquired the strangest skills, I still remember struggling to make a lion costume at short notice because Sam insisted on dressing as Aslan for Book Day at school. Until yesterday I had never been called upon to paint a teapot! Emily returned from town with a teapot and explained that she needed to paint a design on the side for her friend's birthday. Apparently her friend wanted a teapot and Emily wanted it to be unique. Emily began the painting but before long I found myself in the hot seat and I spent a pleasant couple of hours painting a parrot on to the side of a teapot. The end result was surprisingly successful and I must admit that I enjoyed doing it, I really should allow more time for my crafts.

Procrastination 11.12.07

There was and amazing red sky on Monday afternoon, it made me think of the old saying 'red sky at night; shepherds delight, red sky in the morning; shepherds warning'. There was a red sky again this morning (but not as dramatic as last night) I don't know what that means - shepherds with bipolar disorder possibly! I don't think there are many shepherds around here these days, delighted or otherwise, but there is one very relieved cat. Oreo went to the vet to part with his manhood yesterday and he came home fighting fit, ravenous and bursting with energy. He raced around the house teasing the dog and doing everything he could think of to get Dave the cat to play with him. If that is the result of castration, I can think of one or two human candidates!

I couldn't help worrying about Oreo while he was at the vet's. I had lots to do, but I couldn't concentrate on anything, in the end I distracted myself with inconsequential stuff. Procrastination, that's the word. I needed to go to the Cross Country Trains website because I wanted to send them some feedback about our journey on Saturday. I was quite impressed with the site on the whole, it was easy to navigate and I found what I wanted without any problem. Once I had the email address that I wanted I had a look at the various sections of the site, one section gave me cause for concern - I'm not sure the world is ready for that 'meet the team' photo - scary! One person's expression suggested that he had haemorrhoids and I am almost certain that George from 'George and Mildred' had sneaked into the picture! I thought I would have a quick look at the Virgin Trains site to see how it compared and to see if they had a meet the team type photo. I didn't like the general presentation as much because it was harder to navigate, but there were a couple of interesting sections such as their stuff for students, and there was a nice photo of Chris Gibb. They had made the wise decision to only expose the public to one face at a time and they only included small head and shoulders photos. I had now got a taste for the websites of train operators and I decided to have a look at the First Great Western site. Barry Doe states that you can judge a train operating company by the presentation of it's timetables, I wondered if the same principle applied to websites. The FGW site was far better than the service they deliver to the travelling public. I noticed that they don't have a meet the team page or anything similar - perhaps they are afraid of retribution! After that I couldn't waste any more time on trivia and I applied myself to the more pressing matters of the day.