A Troubling Obsession?

When we were on the train on Sunday Robbie waited until I was relaxed and comfortable, then he rummaged in his rucksack and brought out a leaflet. He opened the leaflet and slid it across the table towards me with a big grin on his face. There were pictures of old buses (Robbie is a bit of a closet bus spotter!) but my eyes fell on a much more troubling picture of milk floats. This place (I can't remember where it was - I was too traumatised!) has a collection of milk floats. Why would anyone want a collection of milk floats? I hate milk floats even more than I hate Volvos, they get in my way, they park inconsiderately and and they always seem to be driven by fiercely ugly old men. As far as I am concerned the only sensible thing to do with a milk float is to blow it up 'Braniacs' style!

I gave Robbie a steady stare, I can put up with a lot, I don't mind his obsession with trains, I can tolerate his 'thing' about buses but if he is going to get into milk floats that is a step too far, its unnatural, in fact it's scarily weird. Robbie guiltily admitted that he wanted to go to see the buses with a friend of his. I grudging agreed on the strict understanding NO MILK FLOATS! I can tolerate most of his enthusiasms but milk floats are a step too far!

Road Rage

Every day of my life I seem to be rushing around taking people to or from various places. I am used to being the kids taxi service, and because Robbie doesn't drive I have to drive whenever we go shopping, to town, to the doctors or whatever, but now I am the only driver for my mum and step dad as well. I hate being late and I often find myself racing against the clock to pick someone up on time. It seems as if everything conspires against me, I have written before about my 'love' of milk floats but I really think the local milkman has some sort of vendetta against road users. If he is not creating chaos by dawdling along at 5 miles an hour, he abandons his vehicle in the middle of the road while he delivers the milk and he brings the traffic to a standstill. Northampton must hold the world record for road humps, but once you get used to them they don't need to cause too much of a problem, So why do I always get behind people who have to slow to a crawl for every road hump? The idiots who lower their suspension and put 'go faster stripes' on their cars are the worse, they shouldn't be on the road if they can't cope with ordinary road hazards. Then there are the Volvo drivers who seem to panic and almost come to a halt before tackling the road hump, there is no need for such a reaction, maybe we should just ban Volvos!

It is my step dad's birthday today so I am taking him and my mum out for lunch, he was so ill in September so I am very grateful that he is well enough to enjoy his birthday.

Another Pet Hate! 30.05.06

We made an early start today and drove to St Merryn to buy pasties and sausage rolls for lunch. Proper locally made Cornish pasties are completely different to those plastic abominations that they sell in supermarkets and garages. The lanes around Trevose Head are extremely narrow so thankfully there are very few Volvos around plenty of much wider vehicles, but Volvo drivers can’t cope with the fear factor so at least we are spared that delight! There are however far too many of another pet hate of mine – golfers! There are a number of golf courses in this part of Cornwall and the road to St Merryn takes us across Trevose Golf course. The golfers behave like snipers and if they miss you with a golf ball they will do their very best to run you off the road with their vehicles. If all else fails they troll along the middle of the road pulling their thingy that holds the clubs. They would make a milk float look dynamic and the urge to mow them down is almost irresistible!

My brother in law, sister in law and niece and nephew came to spend the day with us. They live in Plymouth so we don’t get to see them as often as we would like. Jack is just over a year old and much to Sam’s disappointment he is not quite old enough to be corrupted. Charlotte is six and has Sam well and truly under the thumb, she gets him to do things that he would never do for anyone else. Today he was very relieved to find that like him she is potty about Dr Who so he was spared all the pink Bratz and Barbie stuff. They sat for ages reading Dr Who magazines and discussing their favourite episodes. I think square eyes must run in the family!

We had a good time on the beach, but Robbie fell asleep and I was able to get some very unflattering photos. I threatened to post them on the blog, but maybe it would be too terrifying! The lifeboat went out twice this evening, it is interesting to watch. Robbie likes to see it being dragged back up the ramp when it returns and he stood outside for ages watching all the manoeuvres.

Feeling Sick 22.05.07

The other day I noticed a billboard advertising Volvo. I must confess to a passionate dislike of Volvo drivers but the new advert left me mystified. It has a picture of a white volvo in the middle with a superior sort of stick man on one side looking happy and wearing a top hat, on the other side of the car a similar stick man seems to be vomiting. I can't imagine who dreamed up the idea that a stick man vomiting would sell Volvos - or am I missing something?