I have upset Robbie so much that I thought he was going to burst a blood vessel. He was speechless, he looked horrified and he had such a menacing look on his face that I thought he was ready to commit murder. My sin was to mend the kitchen drawer. You may think that was not such a serious crime, but I needed to apply weight to the draw to hold the front in place while the repair material hardened. Unfortunately Robbie's Track Atlas was just the right shape and size for the job and the repair worked perfectly. The book was unharmed in the mending of the drawer, but Robbie went mad, I am sure he would have been less upset if I had weighted it with a Bible!
The next evening I decided to get my own back and I told him that I was very sorry but I had accidentally spilled tea on his book. His face was terrifying, he looked as if he had just walked out of a horror film. He came over and checked the book page by page and when he found that it was still in perfect condition he gave me a menacing look and told me that some things should never be joked about. He then retreated to his corner, clamped on his headphones and gave his computer his undivided attention.
To make things even worse I let him down big style when I washed his high visibility jacket. I made the foolish assumption that a grown man of almost 40 would not put his coat in the washing pile without checking his pockets. I gave the pocket a cursory check and I couldn't feel anything in them, but apparently I washed a whole load of junk, the most valuable item was a (free) ballpoint pen, but apparently Robbie was saving the wooden coffee stirrer, used tissues and McDonalds wrappers for posterity, so he gave me a lecture about checking pockets. Apparently Robbie never makes those sort of mistakes, the evidence doesn't back up his statement, but Robbie is not big of evidence! He completely overlooked the fact that the coat is a pain to wash and I had followed the washing instructions to the letter including the need to allow it to drip dry. Oh well, maybe next time he wears it he will appreciate having a nice clean coat with empty pockets!
Showing posts with label track. Show all posts
Showing posts with label track. Show all posts
Wednesday, 24 March 2010
Tuesday, 10 February 2009
Essential Viewing
I really love Robbie, but just occasionally it would be nice if he wasn't quite so exhausting. When I got home from work tonight he searched through the channels on sky to find something for me to watch. He found something so exciting that he gave a little shriek of joy as he settled down to watch Extreme Trains. Oddly enough I felt like shouting too but in my case joy was the last thing on my mind! I could hardly cope with all the excitement, I can't imagine how I had survived until now without knowing about the technical differences between track maintenance USA style and the way we do things in England! Then when the endurance test was finally over he swapped channel to watch Shameless and I gave up hope of getting any sense out of him this evening.
Friday, 21 March 2008
The Tip of the Iceberg!
I was very tired on Thursday morning after dealing with the dog during the night. By lunchtime I could feel myself nodding off and I prescribed a cup of tea and a little rest, with Radio 4 for company of course. I had just settled down when I almost choked on my tea. The irritatingly complacent tones of Iain Coucher were intruding into the room. It feels as if I can't get away from Network Rail. It is bad enough listening to Robbie moaning about them every day, and I'd had a taste of their inability to cope with joined up thinking at Northampton Station the night before, so the last thing I wanted was that man intruding into my lounge.
I'm not sure what is going on in Northampton, maybe the council are challenging Bristol for the title of road cone capital of the UK. For months we have endured road closures and road works involving one of the most important roundabouts in the town. Work on the roundabout finished a couple of weeks ago and I breathed a huge sigh of relief, because it had cased me a lot of inconvenience. My relief was short lived, the roadworks have now radiated out to other equally inconvenient sites and the cones haven't gone, they have just moved down the road. The road outside the front entrance to the railway station is closed and they have dug a massive hole in the road, so I was forced to enter the station via the long stay car park at the back. It is an awkward entrance anyway, but visiting the station was turned into a near death experienced by having six massive lorries loaded with huge bits of track maintenance equipment, parked nose to tail along the narrowest and most dangerous part. They must have known in advance that the council planned to create a 'heffalump trap' at the front entrance, so you would have thought that even with their limited resources in the brain cell department, they could have worked out that this was not a good time to block the other entrance/exit.
Anyway back to Mr Complacent on the radio. He managed to cure my tiredness because I was far too cross to be tired. He is still rambling on about what a good job they are doing and how everyone else was at fault regarding the New Year debacle. That old phrase comes to mind, There are none so blind as those who will not see. The most deluded people are those who choose to ignore what they already know.
As usual when the railways are mentioned in the media Christian Woolmer was wheeled out to give an expert analysis. He talked a lot of sense, but he hasn't really got the sort of voice that makes you want to listen, I guess he is the David Bellamy of the railway world - much better in print. His assessment of the cause of the previous delay and the potential for further disruption was much more plausible, I suspect we have only seen the tip of the iceberg so far! Even if Network Rail manage the Rugby shut down this Easter better than the New Year fiasco, weekend rail travel from Northampton to Birmingham will still be a bit like the dodo - a thing of the past!
Robbie's journey to work today (Friday) took three hours and put him in a foul mood, he arrived home at 9.40pm after an equally challenging return journey. I think we would all be a bit more forgiving about blocked lines and replacement coaches if we thought there was a realistic possibility of a better service after the upgrade, but if they don't tell the truth about the present why should we believe the promises about the future!
I'm not sure what is going on in Northampton, maybe the council are challenging Bristol for the title of road cone capital of the UK. For months we have endured road closures and road works involving one of the most important roundabouts in the town. Work on the roundabout finished a couple of weeks ago and I breathed a huge sigh of relief, because it had cased me a lot of inconvenience. My relief was short lived, the roadworks have now radiated out to other equally inconvenient sites and the cones haven't gone, they have just moved down the road. The road outside the front entrance to the railway station is closed and they have dug a massive hole in the road, so I was forced to enter the station via the long stay car park at the back. It is an awkward entrance anyway, but visiting the station was turned into a near death experienced by having six massive lorries loaded with huge bits of track maintenance equipment, parked nose to tail along the narrowest and most dangerous part. They must have known in advance that the council planned to create a 'heffalump trap' at the front entrance, so you would have thought that even with their limited resources in the brain cell department, they could have worked out that this was not a good time to block the other entrance/exit.
Anyway back to Mr Complacent on the radio. He managed to cure my tiredness because I was far too cross to be tired. He is still rambling on about what a good job they are doing and how everyone else was at fault regarding the New Year debacle. That old phrase comes to mind, There are none so blind as those who will not see. The most deluded people are those who choose to ignore what they already know.
As usual when the railways are mentioned in the media Christian Woolmer was wheeled out to give an expert analysis. He talked a lot of sense, but he hasn't really got the sort of voice that makes you want to listen, I guess he is the David Bellamy of the railway world - much better in print. His assessment of the cause of the previous delay and the potential for further disruption was much more plausible, I suspect we have only seen the tip of the iceberg so far! Even if Network Rail manage the Rugby shut down this Easter better than the New Year fiasco, weekend rail travel from Northampton to Birmingham will still be a bit like the dodo - a thing of the past!
Robbie's journey to work today (Friday) took three hours and put him in a foul mood, he arrived home at 9.40pm after an equally challenging return journey. I think we would all be a bit more forgiving about blocked lines and replacement coaches if we thought there was a realistic possibility of a better service after the upgrade, but if they don't tell the truth about the present why should we believe the promises about the future!
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