First Catch Your Cat!

The wanderer has returned from his busy weekend playing trains and he is now sitting in the corner snoring and the dog is sprawled on the floor also snoring! I shouldn't moan at least while he is dozing it gives me a break from listening to tales of his wonderful trip to Swanage. He didn't seem so interested in my adventures over the last few days, I don't blame him it really.

On Friday I went to the dentist, only minor treatment needed, the pain was financial rather than physical! The trip to the dentist was followed by a trip to the vet for George the cat, he was also in need of dental work. He had all his teeth out soon after we got him because they were in a bad state and causing him pain, but recently a fragment of tooth or root has come up through his gum and it looked inflamed and painful. Typically the fragment came out on Friday morning before we went to the vet, George needed antibiotics to help with the infection. More financial pain for me and serious indignity for George.

Unfortunately George gets travel sick, on the way to the vet he vomited and on the way back disaster struck he had a serious bowel accident. When we got home I opened the cat box carefully because he was covered, but he shot out of the box and hid under the table – thank goodness we don't have carpet! I dashed to the kitchen for wipes and cleaning materials and by the time I returned George had managed to 'pebble dash' the dog as well. I was starting to lose the will to live, but after an entertaining hour bathing the cat and washing the dog I managed to get the house cleaned up. After that it was back to the same old routine, laundry, shopping, cooking, taking people here and there and then fetching them back again. There was also the little matter of getting the cat to take his tablets!

Terrorise the Traveller 16.01.07

Robbie had a bad start this morning, he rang me before 7am to say that he was on a bus to Coventry as the line is blocked. What a joyless experience that will be!! I had the misfortune of travelling by coach to Coventry last year during the 'Terrorise the Traveller' initiative (otherwise known as the summer timetable!). We went on a stinky old bus, packed in next to the weirdest selection of passengers imaginable, with a loud and uncouth driver whose sole ambition was to enter the Guinness Book of Records by provoking motion sickness in every single passenger during a single journey. When we arrived at Coventry we parked in the station car park for 25 minutes before continuing our journey to New Street. It was such a drab and dreary and god forsaken dump that I longed to get away, even the prospect of arriving at New Street was inviting in compression - and I detest New Street! I had always wondered why the people who get off the train at Coventry look so gloomy and depresses, having travelled through that bleak and desolate landscape by coach I can only guess how miserable it must be to live there. I know some people say that parts of it are nice, but I have seen quite enough to make me give Coventry the thumbs down.

Robbie rang again at 8.10am and he was only at Rugby, at that rate he will get to work at about 11am! Oh well, I can look forward to another evening of him muttering darkly about the state of the railways. At least it will make a change from hearing about the failings of FGW, they seem to be rivalling Network Rail on the Burgess hit list recently.