A Brief Glimpse into the Future 16.09.2007

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

A Good Little Wife!

Robbie told me that one of his colleagues said that he thought I would be shorter than Robbie, petite and a good little wife who does exactly what she is told. No wonder the railways are in such a mess if they employ Neanderthals! I suppose even someone whose cognitive processes have perished from neglect has to be correct once in a while by random chance, so I will admit that I am shorter than Robbie - in fact I'm shorter that most people! The rest is total balderdash. I would accuse him of reading too much Jane Austin, but that would assume he was capable of reading! Whatever the cause he seems to be stuck in some far off century, but he is deluding himself, women have never done as they were told! Why would they when they are clearly superior? God made Adam as a prototype, Eve was definitive version - and women have been giving men the run-around ever since! My mum always told me that women can do anything a man can do, but by using our brains and our common sense we can do it better than them! We may allow men to think they are taking charge when it suits us, but it is all smoke and mirrors, the women are in the driving seat!

Robbie describes me as strong, stubborn, determined, funny, clever, totally honest and outspoken. I can spot a lie instantly and Robbie is convinced that I can do a bit of mind reading too - he doesn't get away with very much! That is probably not what our 'friend from the north' had in mind when he suggested that I was a 'good little wife', but I don't intend to change for anyone. Robbie and I love each other and we respect each other for who we really are rather than trying to change each other. Our marriage is based on laughter and friendship as well as trust and all the usual stuff.