Moving On

There has been a long silence on the blog, over a week of saying nothing I wasn't able to talk about something that was happening, hence the reason for my silence but at last I can speak again. Robbie made the difficult decision that after almost fifteen years it was time to leave the company that he works for and set his sights on pastures new. It has been a very big decision and it has occupied our thoughts for months, but it was very important to do things properly and I couldn't mention it on the blog until everything was agreed with his employer and his departure had been announced. He is still technically with the company for a few weeks longer, but he is now using up leave, his last working day was last Friday.

In the weeks leading up to his departure there were several important jobs to be done including emptying his cupboard and his desk. It sounds simple enough doesn't it, but this is Robbie that we are talking about! It took a huge amount of effort but thanks to the effort of two wonderful 'helpers' his cupboard was emptied - it is just as well that my Ford Galaxy has the rear seats removed because the contents of his cupboard filled the car. I thought that was the end of it but more bags and boxes followed as he emptied his desk - even a tardis couldn't hold that much 'stuff' so we now have a a lifetime of timetables that were taking up house room. It seems that he has several copies of every leaflet ever published by a train company, he also has the largest mug collection known to man and other sundry 'junk' that will fill at least 20 archive boxes!! By junk I mean old tickets, reservation slips and assorted stuff that 'normal' people would throw away. I have tried to be understanding but it is difficult, I feel as if I am drowning in clutter. I am ashamed to admit that you can't actually see our garage any more, the utility room has become a store room and all things railway related have invaded the bedroom!! Just occasionally I crave a a bit of 'normality'. When I told Robbie how I felt he told me that in 100 years time it will be an important historical archive. I wasn't as reassured by that as he expected, after all in 100 years (or even 50 years) I will not be around.

Local Voters Got It Right

Robbie had a bit of a close call when it came to voting on Thursday. Laura and I had voted earlier in the day but Robbie left for work before the polling stations opened and he went to visit his friend in hospital after work, so we had a last minute dash to the polling station when he got back to Northampton. He made it with ten minutes to spare.

I was fairly happy with the result locally, our MP lost her seat. She was a complete waste of space, she was only interested in headlines and photo opportunities, there was no substance and no respect for real people. When she attended school events she was always late arriving and as soon as she had elbowed her way into the newspaper photo she was gone before the camera flash died away. Other important visitors took time to talk to the children, but she was to 'important' for that! When Emily was in middle school she wrote to her and the other local MP about a proposed change from a three tier to a two tier education system. The other MP replied with a personal letter and followed up as more information became available. but all our MP managed was a printed postcard to say she had received the letter. People have long memories and that insignificant schoolgirl is now a voter!

I think we must have been a target seat for the Liberals, I certainly felt targeted, in fact it felt like harassment! They waged a war of paper against the voters, almost every day we got more junk mail from them and as the election loomed we got two or three items a day. What a waste, we didn't read them, our recycling bin is conveniently located next to our post box! They get a thumbs down from me for not being green and an even bigger thumbs down for being annoying. I had to laugh, after all that effort they still came third!