It seems that I was wrong, 'monsoon season' is not over. After a perfect week of sunshine last week a very hot weekend and a hot sunny days at the beginning of the week the rain came back with a vengeance yesterday evening. It was uncomfortably hot and late afternoon we had a brief shower which cane as a relief, it was so hot that I wanted to go and stand in the rain to cool down, but unfortunately I was busy at work so I couldn't do that . At about twenty past eight I was at the station waiting for Robbie because he was having a bad day and struggling to cope with the pain in his legs. The sky darkened and the heavens opened, it only lasted for about twenty minutes but it came down so hard that many roads including those in the station car park flooded (the water soon soaked away afterwards). By the time Robbie came out of the station the rain had more or less stopped. I thought his pain and the bad weather would have put him in a bad mood, but I was wrong. He was very happy, because lots of people had admired his new and rather splendid pink Lego brick cuff-links.
As we drove home we encountered huge puddles and several flooded roads. The road where we live is quite high up and not prone to flooding but the drains couldn't cope and when we got home the road was flooded just beyond our house. The people from the houses opposite were all out trying to stop the traffic because the water from the road was flooding down into their houses. Thankfully our side of the road was fine.
Today is the day! The big 40 has finally caught up with Mr B. It may be his birthday, but it is also a normal working day so we had to get up even earlier than usual to allow Robbie to have a few minutes to open his cards and presents. He had chosen to have money for his birthday, but he had lots of nice presents too. A couple of pairs of cufflinks, aftershave, a retro mug based on the old Ladybird books, Lego minifigures, Lego books, a reproduction of an Eagle Annual, as well as various other bits and bobs. He also had two pairs of Dr Marten Shoes, one pair chosen by him and so hideous that they defy description, the other pair chosen by me and much more sensible. They are red 1461's (made in England!) he seemed to be very pleased with them - and almost as pleased with the Dr Marten carrier bag that they came in!
All too soon it was time for him to get ready for work. It would have been nice to have a long lazy day together, but the 'real world' dictated otherwise. Before long Robbie was dressed in his dark suit with a smart white shirt and his new 'keep calm and carry on' cufflinks. He had stashed his Lego minifigures in his briefcase along with a set of farm themed novelty erasers. I had bought them to remind him of our trips to the Farm Shop and he seemed delighted with them, apparently he used to collect erasers - why does that not surprise me!
He was careful to reassure me that he isn't going to change just because he is 40, I don't think he is very keen on the idea of becoming old and sensible. He needn't worry, according to Jerry M. Wright "The first sign of maturity is the discovery that the volume knob also turns to the left." If that is true there is danger of Robbie becoming more mature that any time soon, he still likes his music loud and annoying.
You can't turn back the clock. But you can wind it up again. Bonnie Prudden
We went to the pantomime this evening. Whoever said that women take ages to get ready had obviously not met Robbie. He kept everyone waiting and when everyone else was queued up at the front door ready to go, he was still wandering around the kitchen in his pants. He always leave things to the very last minute, but on this occasion the delay was caused by the alleged loss of his best railway cufflinks. They were not lost, I had put them away last time after he had abandoned them on the bed and he hadn't thought of looking in the right place! Men!!!
We got to the panto on time. It starred Julian Cleary, he was very funny and very 'blue'. The costumes and sets were incredible and it was much better than I had anticipated. I was a little surprised when Sam asked me earlier if Julian Cleary may be a bit gay, I should think that after tonight even Sam was left in no doubt, he was extremely camp. On the subject of camp, what do you make of today's picture of Robbie? He was 18 or 19 when this photo was taken.
