So why the quotation from the Bible, partly because it is one of my favourites and also because it gave me an excuse to include a Snoopy picture. The other day Robbie reminded me how much he likes Snoopy and it made me Realise how much Robbie has in common with Linus! The main reason for the quotation is because it is the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible. People who know me well will know tat it is not my favourite version of the Bible despite the beautiful use of language. I prefer the more accessible and down to earth language of the Good News translation, but I recognise the importance of the King James Bible. It made the Bible accessible to ordinary people in English but it is also an important literary work in its own right and it has influenced the way that English is spoken.
"And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light..."
Genesis ch1 v1-3
Most of the time I really don't mind about Robbie's obsession with trains and all things railway. After all, imagine how much trouble he would get in to if he didn't have his precious trains to distract him! I am used to hearing about the trivial details of every journey he takes, in fact it would be fair to say that the subject of trains dominates his thoughts. Of course there are limits, I had to get rather assertive about him taking his pager to bed and thankfully he doesn't do that anymore. Can you imagine what it was like, that thing poised on the bedside cabinet would vibrate and wake me up, sleeping beauty would be oblivious, prodding didn't work so I would pinch his bottom. He would then fling off the covers, turn on the light, read the pager out loud (just to make absolutely sure I was awake!), but then he would replace the pager and be 'Z'ing away again before his head hit the pillow, leaving me to reach across to turn out the light and recover the duvet before trying my best to get back to sleep. Often the whole process would be repeated before I had even dozed off again and by morning I was thinking murderous thoughts! The pager doesn't intrude into our private life anymore (or else!) but there is a new threat to my sanity, he has become obsessed with wnxx.com. No, it's ok, it's nothing dubious, it's a website about withdrawn and stored locomotives! Whenever I want help in the kitchen etc. I have to make an appointment because he is busy on wnxx, as if that isn't bad enough he then tells me all about it - scintillating!!
I have had a brief glimpse into the future and I don't like what I see, in fact it makes me want to run as hard as I can in the other direction. The thing that caused such terror was a blog entry by the wife of a newly retired MD of a train operating company. I had never seriously thought about retirement before and at 35 Robbie has a while to go, but I really don't think I could tolerate it.
She spoke of her husband driving home on the day before his retirement with his car crammed with his accumulated possessions, hoarded over many years. She wondered if they should open a museum or create a railway room. She described such delights as a locomotive nameplate, DMU heating panel, various pictures and models. I think we are already well past using just one room, in fact the only room with no significant railway presence is the bathroom! Having a house stuffed with railway related 'junk' causes unexpected problems. When the most recent BT man came at the end of last week he spotted some of Robbie's model trains displayed in the hall, it turned out that he was also a railway crank and he chatted happily about trains for an 'eternity' while he mended our phone line.
She went on to describe the most pressing problem on the first day of her husband's retirement - NO PAGER! She wondered if he would have withdrawal symptoms and how she would cope. Her desperation was such that she asked is there a pager users anonymous? There certainly should be. Robbie is intolerable without his, he has been known to check it at the most intimate of moments, and if he ever misplaces it you would think it was a national emergency!
Role reversal was mentioned and my heart sank. I love Robbie dearly but when he tries to supervise what I am doing or even worse tell me how to do it, it makes me want to harm him! He is obsessive enough about minor things as it is, I couldn't cope with it all day, every day! She also spoke of the luxury of structuring their own days and her husband's need to know the exact agenda for the whole day - a withdrawal symptom from having a detailed diary. Robbie already times everything in intricate detail, I couldn't face having him timetable my entire retirement. There again, according to him he is married to an 'old woman' so I will probably have turned up my toes by the time he retires! Back to the present day. Robbie dragged me out of bed early this morning to take him to the station, he is going to a railway open day near Manchester. Having had a disturbed night I decided to sneak back to bed for half an hour, however Robbie didn't think I deserved t sleep. His first phone call was to tell me that the replacement bus was running 8 minutes late. The next call was equally essential, he was disgusted by the slack standard of journalism in his railway magazine, apparently they had started a sentence with the word 'and'. Hopefully he will meet up with some of his railway buddies, I really don't need an update every half hour
Robbie did not go as far as saying that I was responsible for the loss of his pager, but the implication was there in the constant questioning and the inherent threat of thumb screws. When he eventually found the pager he was rather quiet about it, in fact I would go as far as to say he was evasive. When faced with a direct question about where it had been, he was forced to admit that he found it in the front pouch of his laptop bag - obviously my fault then! I am surprised that the thing didn't make it's presence felt when he was at work, it is very noisy, it drives me mad. Robbie collected his beloved briefcase yesterday, it had been to the menders to have a very expensive new clip fitted. He has missed the briefcase far more than he would miss me if I went away for a fortnight! At least the pager will be able to travel to work in style again.
Laura's guinea pig Saffy died yesterday, she was very much one of the family and we were all sad to loose her, but she was quite old. Sam was especially upset and he set about persuading me to buy a new one. The children agreed that if we had a new pet it would be Sam's responsibility. Eventually I was won over and we found ourselves at the pet shop, they had no guinea pigs, but Sam fell in love with a large and fearsomely endowed rat. I know they make good pets, but I couldn't face looking at that every morning - a horse would have been proud to own that equipment! Sam left the store in tears, claiming that I was the worst parent ever. The wailing continued until we reached the garden centre, and by this point I was ready to harm him, so Laura and Robbie took him to the pet department. He emerged with a smile and a black guinea pig, she is very cute and friendly. Her name has not yet been announced but it is almost certain that it will have a super hero theme.
Robbie phoned me from the train this evening. He told me that there was a speed restriction in place, but he was stranded without his quail map, so he couldn't check the signalling to work out roughly how late he would be. Imagine being stranded without a quail map - what a predicament!!
When he got home it wasn't long before First Great Western got him into serious trouble. They had driven him to the limit of frustration with timetable issues and he used a very unfortunate expletive to explain the situation. After a severe telling off we decided to adapt our family code so that FGW has become a swear word in its own right, minimising the need for other expletives.
As well as being caught out without his quail map, Robbie has lost his pager, it has been missing for a few days and despite searching frantically he can't find it. I don't know what he could have done with it. I hate the thing, it is bad enough that it constantly vibrates in his pocket, but he even takes it to bed with him! It is like a security blanket and he is lost without it
