The Butcher Of Midland Road

On the bus today because I’m out in Derby tonight. It’s a belated leaving meal for someone who left our company just before Christmas after being at our place since she was sixteen, thirty-three years ago. Tonight it’s just a select few of us who have known her for the majority of that time, I qualify despite a mere 20 years’ service. The meal is at the Bella Mora Italian Restaurant on London Road but doesn’t start until 7:30 so I chance for a gym session first, as you do.

The evening is excellent in an Italian Restaurant that, to it’s credit, doesn’t serve pizza and has very little pasta. The evening is only spoilt by going in the Mansion bar on Midland Road afterwards courtesy of its dreadful pub singer, who looked way older than me, murdering 80’s classics. He was butchering ‘Enola Gay’ when we arrived but thankfully by the time he got around to assaulting ‘Just Can't Get Enough’ we’d had enough as it was bus time.

(Friday 10^th March)

The Best Piped Music Ever

Our fibre optic broadband has gone down at work, so we now back on the more traditional mouse running around a little wheel sort of internet. My boss is just about to board a plane to Tenerife as his phone rings with the good news, so good timing obviously. Of course if he’d told anyone else how it all hangs together we wouldn’t have had to bother him.

We venture to a different pub for our lunch, the VictoriaInn on Midland Road, where they have all the gigs. The beer is decent, the food ok and probably unsurprisingly they have the best piped music ever.

Tennis is off as the Tennis Centre is shut again due to them hosting the British Wheelchair Open and the Senior Tennis GB Grass Court Tournament. It’s great that they get to host all these tournaments but you’d think they’d keep some courts open for the public because about the only time you’re guaranteed to get a court is in the winter. Which isn’t great obviously.

I have a puncture on the way home and an impressive five people stop to help. I put this down to the pleasant summer weather as this never happens when it's raining or snowing. There’s one person in a van and four on bikes. One of the cyclists was even a girl who asked if there was ‘anything I can do for you’ before probably realising what she’d said could be misconstrued and quickly pedalled off again.

(Thursday 17^th July)