In Need of an Off Switch!

I love Robbie very much and mostly I like having him working from home, but I have my limits and just occasionally I need a bit of time on my own. I need peace and quiet, time to think and to process my own thoughts without someone talking non stop at the side of me. 

On Wednesday Robbie really seemed to have his talking boots on. During the morning I was trying to focus on several important things that I needed to do, but I couldn't concentrate because Robbie kept talking. He keeps returning to the subject of the Sky box and the possibility of moving to Virgin for our television, internet and phone. I am very reluctant to move and I told him 'loud and clear' that pestering me is not going to make me change my mind. After a few brief moments of quiet he was at it again, and we leapt from one subject to the next without stopping for breath. Much of the conversation was about his work in one way or another, but eventually he settled on the subject of irritating people - and as I listened to him I was mentally adding to my own list of annoying people!!

We had lunch at Morrisons with my mum and step father, it is nice to spend an hour or so with them during the week. We chatted about all sorts of things as we ate, but Robbie was making me feel exhausted because he didn't even stop for breath.  He had returned to the subject of our television and Internet provider his voice seemed louder than usual and he didn't pay any attention to my hints so I had to tell him point blank to stop talking. That worked for a few seconds but then he 'defaulted' to his specialist subject (trains) and off we went again. I wanted to scream at him to shut up but I managed to control the impulse and settled for a withering look instead.

Robbie was aware that I had some shopping to do, but as we finished eating he told me to get a move on because he needed a lift to the station to catch the 13.55 train. The urge to harm him was almost too much for me to resist! He had talked non stop all morning but he had not bothered to share the one piece of relevant information, that he needed a lift to the station just before 2pm. Having had a brief but meaningful exchange of views, we ran around the supermarket to get the absolute essentials and met up again at the till. I was still livid and when Robbie told me that he thought I would have know what time he needed to be at the station, I informed him very firmly that I am not Mystic Meg. The woman in front of us in the queue gave me a knowing smile and let us go in front of her as we only had a few items.

I had to hurry to get him to the station on time and I wasn't taking too much notice of Robbie. Then I realised that he was talking about 'Percy' and I was completely mystified. The only 'Percy' that I know of is the one that gets 'pointed at the porcelain' so when Robbie started talking about 'web Percy' and 'normal Percy' I had no idea what he was on about. I should have left it like that but I was unwise enough to ask what he meant. He told me that PERCY is a computer program that DfT and train operators use to check that they are meeting existing franchise commitments. He gave me more detail and I got the feeling that he could have talked for a lot longer but thankfully we arrived at the station on time and he had to dash off to catch his train. At last I had a few minutes peace! 

Everyone wants to escape sometimes

I am getting bored with this now, the snow is still here and it looks as if it intends to stay. My son's school was closed and my daughter was unable to drive to Leicester to get to university, so we had the pleasure of their company at home. My son wandered around with an air of disapproval and he resisted all my efforts to encourage him to do something useful. My daughter was less visible but it was clear that our weekday routine was getting in the way of her plans for the day

Robbie was up and ready for work very early this morning, he wanted to get all his work done so that he could finish early and go out this afternoon. The snow has kept him away from the railways for a few days and it doesn't take long for him to get withdrawal symptoms. So this afternoon I braved the weather and the roads to drive Robbie to the station. The main roads were not too bad but if you strayed on to the very icy side roads you had to take your life in your hands.  

I only had an hour of 'peace' without Robbie, then I had to go to work, but it least it gave my son and daughter a chance to watch television and take possession of the lounge for a few hours. Robbie returned late but happy, the train for his return journey was rather special (according to Robbie) so he had plenty to tell me about his afternoon. I'd been worried about him falling over in the snow, but thankfully he managed to stay upright thanks to his Dr Martens shoes.

What goes on in his head?

It was 8.30am on Saturday morning and I was tired of waiting for Robbie to wake up, so I decided to wake him up. He seemed oblivious of the first two or three prods, then suddenly he turned over and said "That's a surprise, there were no announcements". I asked what he was talking about and he said that he dreamt that Google had a new operating platform and he was trying to work it out. Not for the first time it left me wondering what goes on in that man's head. I have never knowingly had a dream about Google, in fact I haven't given it a passing thought. What sort of person  dreams about Google for heaven sake!!


We had to go shopping for a gift for Robbie's new nephew. I was tempted by the usual sort of baby designs but Robbie was attracted to the more colourful designs. We couldn't agree, but then Robbie spotted a blue all in one with a Thomas the Tank Engine design and his mind was made up, apparently you are never too young for trains!! I know when I'm defeated, but I made sure that we found a cute cuddly elephant for the baby too.


Robbie spent most of the day planning and re planning the best route to south Staffordshire. I wondered why it was proving so hard to plan a train journey, I know it was a bank holiday weekend, but surely it shouldn't be that difficult. Eventually all became clear; he could take a more direct route and have time to eat with me before he left, but if he took the more contorted route via Walsall he could do a bit of bus spotting as well! If time had been on his side I think the buses would have won, but in the end he chose to spend a little longer with me so that we could go and eat.


I dropped Robbie off at the station in good time for his train and I drove off to do some shopping and to enjoy a few hours of peace and quiet. The peace and quiet didn't last long, when I got home my son had taken control of the television and I had to endure his viewing choices all evening. Well I didn't have to, but it would have been unkind to object when there was nothing that I wanted to watch. I occupied myself with family history research on the internet and before long I had 'zoned out' the junk on television. Meanwhile Robbie was at a family party to celebrate the wedding of his nephew (a different nephew, not the newborn one!!) according to his texts he was having a great time, but he had to admit that he is getting old - the music was too loud!! Maybe it wasn't such a hardship to put up with junk television after all, at least I could control the volume! 

My connection to the earth is reinforced through the rhythm of the waves - Mike Dolan

It was another lovely sunny day. I was up before before Robbie and I wandered out into the garden and stood looking over the gate at the waves lapping up the beach. It was a very special because it is rare that I have the time to just stand and enjoy the moment without having to dash off to do something more important. The most precious thing about coming to Norfolk is being able to take time to do nothing and to recharge my batteries.

By the time Robbie emerged to face the day I had already done some washing and hung it out, and been for a walk along the beach. The tide was in so there wasn't much beach but I like to look at the beautiful colours and shapes of the sea washed pebbles and with the sun shining on them they almost sparkle. A percularity of this beach are pebbles with holes worn all the way through, I am not sure why it happens, but when the children were young a friend told us that they were special because the ones with holes all the way through are wishing stones.I still look out for them, I need all the wishes I can find and it brings back happy memories of collecting shells and pebbles with the children.

We were happy to stay at the bungalow to enjoy the sunshine and the luxuary of time, it was a lovely relaxing day. We popped out to Stalham briefly in the afternoon to get milk and a few other bits and bobs and then back to the bungalow to enjoy a nice quiet evening, just us and the bats - they really are amazing. The sunset was amazing too, it looked as if the sky was on fire, there is nothing quite like a Norfolk sunset.

Moved By Music

The children had Guitar Hero (for the Wii) for Christmas. They love it, but it is not exactly designed for spectators, so why can't they take the Wii upstairs and play it in one of their bedrooms? The root of the problem is Robbie! The songs on Guitar Hero have reminded him of all the 'wonderful' music that he has not listened to for a while and he encourages them to try out new tunes (I use the word 'tune' in the loosest sense). So for what seems like hours on end we have someone strumming away, then when they finally lose interest and peace is restored, Robbie starts. He clamps on his headphones and listens to 'music' on his laptop, it wouldn't be a problem if he didn't feel the need to sing along! Robbie has many attributes but his singing voice is not one of them and wearing headphones enables him to achieve new extremes of tunelessness. He sounds like a warthog in distress, then he wonders why I take myself off to the bedroom for some peace and quiet with my radio!

Chaos on the Coventry Corridor

This morning I decided to have a nice relaxing bath. The bathroom is about the only place in the house that I can have a few minutes peace, and even then it is not guaranteed. The bath water was lovely and warm and I lay back in the bath with my eyes closed listening to the radio and enjoying the luxury of the moment. Suddenly I became aware of a presence looming over me, he stood there hands on hips with indignation etched on his face. His lips were moving but I was getting no sound (bliss!) there was water in my ears but as I moved my head my hearing returned in time to hear the 'headline' Chaos on the Coventry Corridor. Robbie was pleased that he hadn't been at work today because there had been delays and confusion on the line. He told me in detail about each delay and the reasons for it, but I will spare you the detail. I have (mostly) enjoyed having Robbie at home and I will miss him when he goes back, but it will be nice to have a bit of peace!

Peace and Quiet - or perhaps not!

I had loads of work to do yesterday, it involved checking information and dealing with unfamiliar subjects so I needed peace and quiet to get on with it. As you can imagine I find it impossible to get much work done when Robbie is around because he is very distracting. Even when he is trying to be good he can't last more than ten minutes without one of his famous 'did you know .......' monologues. Even when he is not talking to me he talks to himself and that is just as distracting. Yesterday Robbie was safely despatched to work and Sam and Laura had been delivered to school so I hoped for a nice quiet morning to get on with my work but thanks to Oreo (our cat) it turned into the most chaotic sort of day.

Oreo is less than a year old and still quite playful, but usually he doesn't cause too much disruption. I had just settled in front of my computer when there was a clatter in the hall and I discovered a rather sheepish Oreo wearing a new stile in feline bridal attire - my net curtain from the hall window! Liberated from his apparel he scampered up stairs while I replaced the curtain. I settled back to my work, but Oreo, who had been doing a spot of bird watching from the hall window had found a better vantage point at the window at the top of the stairs. It gave him a brilliant view of the flat roof of the utility room and the little puddle where the starlings like to take a bath. Unfortunately for Oreo it involved perching on top of a large plant pot containing an equally large christmas cactus, which I would imagine proved rather a ticklish problem. Before many minutes had passed we had a feline Humpty Dumpty, Oreo and the plant came tumbling down making a horrible mess and ruining a pile of clean laundry that was waiting to be put away.

Finally I settled back to work, and Oreo kept a low profile. He amused himself by stalking his favourite quarry - elastic hair bands! It is comical to watch him chasing and sliding on the laminate floor and such an insignificant little thing can hold his attention for ages. After that he and Dave (the other cat) played a very energetic game of chase and managed to sound like a whole heard of elephants racing up and down the stairs. Eventually peace reigned when they both found a patch of sunshine on the hall carpet, the ideal spot for a cat nap. Oreo was soon up and about again, he decided to investigate the hearth and chimney, but finding that he couldn't get up the chimney he examined the vase standing on the hearth instead. The inevitable happened, his head got stuck and a vase with a cat in it rushed around the lounge in a panic, amazingly both survived unscathed. Even more amazingly I managed to finish all my work.