In Trouble Again

Robbie is in the dog house yet again. He has been forgetting to phone me because he is too busy, then when he did mange to remember to pick up the phone he managed to annoy me even more - he has been mixing with the wrong kind of people! I may not be there to keep an eye on him but he needs to remember that he has left me to do his packing for our holiday next week!!

In Disgrace - again!

Photo by Chris McKenna

I know Robbie has been terribly worried about his friend and I have tried to be as supportive as possible, but I was really cross with him on Friday evening. He has a habit of dropping off the radar whenever I wouldn't approve of what he was doing. I had planned our even meal and found myself in suspended animation when Robbie didn't come home and didn't respond to any of my texts. He eventually sent me a text to say that he had gone out for a drink (plural!) with some railway friends. If he had told me I wouldn't have minded, he needed cheering up, but I was less than impressed at being ignored. He finally crept home and sent me a text asking for a lift from the station. To put it kindly he was on the wrong side of sober and he spent the night on the sofa.

He didn't wake up very early in the morning, but I stayed upstairs out of his way listening to the radio and getting on with my writing. Eventually he appeared bearing a cup of tea and an apology and I decided that life was too short to be angry. He cuddled up to me and finally I had his full attention - or so I thought. Suddenly he was totally still and his body went rigid, I thought for a second that he was having a heart attack or something, he seemed to stay like that for ever but it was probably only a minute or so. I was scared, then suddenly he put his head on one side as if listening and then he started muttering to himself. I slowly became aware that he was listening to the radio, it was about train announcements and he was trying to work out if he was listening to the sound of a Voyager or a Pendolino. Needless to say the moment was lost! Sometimes with Robbie I don't know whether to laugh or cry!

The Friday Night Fiasco

Robbie is making himself feel at home in the dog house, after the Friday night fiasco he is likely to be there for the foreseeable future. On Friday morning he set off for an appointment somewhere far away. I can't remember where he said he was going, but I distinctly remember that he didn't say a word about the possibility of being late home. He didn't contact me all day, so at about 5pm I sent him a text. When he had not responded by 6.30pm I phoned him, but he ignored the call. Hours passed, his dinner was put in the dog and I got on with my evening. Eventually he sent a text with the exact time of his arrival at Northampton. I took this as a request for a lift, I sat there waiting for him and he went straight past heading for the bus station. I can't tell you exactly what I said to him, but it caused him to turn back and get a lift. He even insisted on stopping to buy chips at 11pm! To say I was unimpressed doesn't even come close. Out of the last 5 days he has been seriously late home 3 times, even Network Rail can do better than that in terms of punctuality!

The Straw That Broke the Camel's Back

Robbie found himself spending the night on the sofa bed last night. He pushed my tolerance to the limit during the evening. He phoned me to say that he had been delayed and he would not be on his planned train so could I please pick him up at 7.30pm, I wasn't overjoyed because it would mean that we could not eat our meal until well after 8pm. I wasn't too impressed with his attitude either but I got on with preparations for the meal and various other jobs and at 7.29pm I pulled into the station car park to meet Robbie. Almost as soon as I turned off the engine my phone bleeped to signal that a text had been received, I rummaged in my handbag for my phone and read the text (sent at 7.25pm) Robbie had missed his train and was still at the pub, he would text me again soon! To say that I wasn't amused doesn't really get close to my real emotions. I went home again, did Robbie's jobs, fed the rest of the family and waited , and waited ..........and waited. Finally a text arrived informing me that he was on the train and in need of a lift at 10.30pm. He always texts when he knows he is in trouble, he is two afraid to ring. I was very tempted to leave him marooned at the station, but I went to fetch him. He got into the car with a daft grin on his face and told me that he'd had a really good time. At least one of us had! As we drove off he informed me that several of his friends were drunk, and I informed him that he stank of alcohol. I was still waiting to hear anything that sounded remotely like sorry, but when I glanced across at him I saw that he was dozing with the idiot grin still spread across his face. He managed a couple of incoherent sentences before we got home, but when I reversed on to the drive he thanked me as if I was a taxi driver, grabbed his bags and trotted off into the house, leaving me outside! I didn't even get the usual cup of tea as a peace offering.

This morning he appeared at 11am bearing a cup of tea and an apology and promising breakfast. I am still waiting for breakfast an hour later!

Too Much Information

I haven't had too much to say to Robbie in the last few days because he is still in the dog house, but I happened to mention to him that I saw a train when I was driving back from Stratford the other day, it was near Warwick I think. I told him it was high up on a viaduct type thing. It was a bad move on my part, Robbie bombarded me with questions about the livery. At the time I was trying hard not to get lost and focusing on road signs and roundabouts not trains! That didn't bother Robbie, he didn't give up until he had identified the toc and worked out the time of the train, where it came from and where it was heading. He can remember whole chunks of timetable, if he could apply his mind to something other than trains he could probably take over the world - so maybe it is a good thing that he restricts his attention to railway related matters!

Nationalised Express!

So the National Express East Coast franchise is to be taken back into public ownership. It was hardly a surprise announcement, I don't really see what else the government could have done because it it starts letting toc's renegotiate contracts it will make a mockery of the whole process (which is a bit of a farce anyway). What worries me most is what we end up with when the government try to fix a problem - Network Rail for example!

Yesterday was a really busy day for me, so I had no time to ponder on the rights and wrongs of the decision about National Express, in fact I didn't even think about railway matters until I got home in the evening. Robbie began by reading out snippets to me from his railway magazine, then when he wasn't getting much response he grabbed his headphones and settled down to watch the DVD about Laira Depot that he had for Father's Day. I could just about tolerate the appreciative sighs and grunts coming from his direction, but when he began to add to the soundtrack with his own train noises I had reached my limit. I gave him one of my most meaningful stares and he got the message loud and clear. He is already in the dog house (yet again) so he didn't need too much of a reminder not to push his luck!

Only a Man Would ......................

I drove home yesterday evening, swung round and reversed my car onto the drive; a manoeuvre that I have done so often that I could almost do it in my sleep. I was surprised to find that I was at least a foot away from the hedge, someone had widened the drive while I was out! I looked again, Robbie had cut the hedge (at long last) and it made the drive so much wider. It was a relief to get the hedge cut but if he thought that would get him out of the doghouse he was sadly mistaken. Even if he had cut every hedge in the county it would not have been enough, I am absolutely furious with him. He didn't tell me that he was disappearing for almost a week because he knew I wouldn't be happy about it. Only a man would think it was better to let me find out by accident at the last minute, and only Robbie would think that doing a job that he should have done weeks ago was an acceptable apology!

When I say he has cut the hedge, he has cut the side next to the drive and he has cut the top of the hedge on drive side, but the other side of the hedge is in serious need of attention and the way he has cut the top has left it looking very odd, as if it has a Mohican hair style! He could have finished cutting it at the weekend if he'd been at home, but by the time he gets around to it, the top will be so high that it will probably require a scaffolding platform to reach it!

Oh well, he has gone now and I will only see him once between now and Sunday night, that should give me plenty of time to get rid of all his railway magazines and stash all his model trains in the loft. I have a few other things in mind too ...................... but he will have to wait and see!