The Dandy Highwayman

This is the week that L starts keeping a hammer by her bedside. I ask if it’s something I’ve said but apparently it’s a workout thing.

On Monday I head to Sainsbury’s wearing my mask. Personally, I find it all quite exciting, like a kid playing at being Dick Turpin, either that or Adam Ant. The dandy highwayman who you were too scared to mention. He, however, was spending the cash on looking flash and grabbing your attention rather than alcohol free Prosecco, a fresh coriander and the rest of the week shop.

Apparently it's a ‘bit too sunny’ for tennis are Tuesday, there really is no pleasing some people, but we play anyway.

After work I head over to Derby to meet a friend in the Exeter, which was one of the few pubs that was open on a Tuesday. At the Exeter you use a QR code to sign up to their Track And Trace then you’re supposed to use their website to order your drinks and food. The second bit however proves to be an almighty faff and we hail a member of staff instead.

On the way over the Red Arrow is really busy with all but one person wearing a mask and the driver in his special Trent Barton branded one. The Red Arrow isn’t running in the evenings at the moment so I have to get the i4 back which is a lot quieter with very few masks in use.

I get the 'pleasure' of doing an extra Asda shop this week as my brother is away. For some reason he felt the need to join all the hordes already down on the south coast. I take the shopping over to my parents and stay to watch Derby win 3-1 at Birmingham City in what was the final match of the season.

(Thursday 23^rd July)

Something For The Weekend

In Sainsburys this week, while bread is now plentiful they still have no pitta. Well they haven’t now after I had the last pack of white ones but it’s the first pack of pitta I’ve seen since the Covid-19 crisis started.

I can’t say I’m impressed with the Government’s handling of it all. For a start, their ‘Daily Death’ figure is a sham because this figure is newly reported deaths whenever they occurred. They do issue a spreadsheet with the figures detailing exactly when the deaths occurred and some of these are from over a month ago.

It seems to me the Government has taken advantage of this delay in reporting to keep the daily figure low initially, thereby avoiding hitting the feared 1000 a day, but are now slotting in the deaths that it ‘missed’ now that we’re passed the theoretical peak (which was as long ago as the 8^th April) or perhaps I’m just a sceptic.

I get an email from Trent Barton saying that they are starting to increase their bus services again with a view to getting back to normal. Even though the Government insist there is no plan to phase out the lockdown and Trent Barton currently have very few customers. Something is clearly afoot.

Meanwhile Germany has banned all events before the end of August and any events of more than 5000 people before end of October, hence the Berlin Marathon is off. As Germany have far fewer cases than here, something similar is going to be coming our way but no one seems willing to admit it.

Not that the French seem any different. They seem to be certain that the Tour de France will go ahead from 29^th August. Seems unlikely to me.

We have a new quiz on Tuesday from Beer Bods, who I get some of my beer from. Technically it is the best quiz so far as they have an online entry sheet that is slick and easy to use. Although I don’t like the fact that there is a time limit on answering and the longer you take the less points you get for a correct answer. Also the presenters, in common will all quiz hosts, talk too much.

On Thursday I head over to Asda in West Bridgford to shop for my parents. Social Distancing has yet to catch on in West Bridgford and it is the easily the unhealthiest environment I’ve been in for some time and that probably includes before lockdown. My Dad’s bank card is declined at the till meaning he will again want to pay me in cash. Cash isn’t much good to me as I’ve stopped using it and I can’t see me using any this side of Christmas, if ever.

There is also a new quiz from The Times. It is the most ambitious one yet but unfortunately the technology doesn’t work and loads of people (including us) complain of not being able to submit our answers. The first round is also incredibly niche, being about The Times itself, but it does get better. Unfortunately the host, Matt Chorley whose Red Box column I enjoy, sets a new world record for inane chatter by a quiz host.

On Friday, the weekend arrives in the shape of two kegs from the Magpie Brewery, purchased by L for my Birthday. I start on the Cherry Raven and we order out from Anoki who unfortunately, and to the dogs’ disgust, forget the poppadums. 

(Friday 24^th April)

The Boxing Day Tradition

Today we do run, at the traditional Boxing Day run at the Furnace Inn in Derby which has a sublime 11am start. One of my ex-school drinking partners makes his début. He says he's never heard of the run before. I've been coming to this event to run or watch for about 20 years... I run with MD and we do a decent time for what is approximately 4.5km.

L then takes Daughter over to her father’s while I have a pint with my Dad, who has come to watch as he does every year.

Sadly there is no football match today, rarely do we get one on Boxing Day these days. Sky TV are making us play tomorrow.

In the evening we get the bus over to Beeston, as Trent buses are running, and go for a drink at the Star and then the Crown. Both pubs are busy and it’s an excellent evening.

(Monday 26^th December)

Mr Badger

I have received a rather generous £36 of free bus tickets in the post. This is an offer being run by Derby City Council and Sustrans. It’s all very odd, as Derby City Council are always pleading poverty and shutting things, yet here they are giving away money. Whereas I thought Sustrans main focus was encouraging cycling but here they are handing out bus tickets.

As it happens I probably won’t be on the bus at all this week as I’ll be cycling most days, so the £16 for the Arriva Derby buses which is only valid this week will go to waste but the £20 on a Trent Barton Mango card can be used any time and will most certainly get used. Again though it is the already converted, like me, who are mopping up these generous offers.

Cycling was a bit interesting today as three sets of traffic lights were out in Sandiacre and Stapleford, meaning the traffic was utter chaos but thankfully they are fixed by the time I cycle home.

Back home I set about building some badger barricades to stop Mr Badger digging holes in the lawn. I have enough problems with Mr Dog and his associate digging holes in the lawn without them having outside help. The back fence has now been repaired and I have put a big redundant fence post under the side gate in case he tries to squeeze under there. 

(Tuesday 24^th May)

Something Less Intimidating

On the bus today and I pick myself up the new Robin Hood travel card from the machine at the QMC stop this morning. This is supposed to be Nottingham’s ‘Oyster’ card but I’m not really sure how it's supposed to work as you only touch on and not off. So it always charges you the same fee no matter how far you go. 

They have chosen to use the current Nottingham City Transport scheme rather than the more advanced 'Mango' scheme operated by Trent Barton which charges you based on distance when you touch off, like ‘Oyster’ does. It seems to me that Trent Barton will lose out if someone gets on one of their many out of Nottingham bound buses, touches on, but doesn’t get off inside the Nottingham boundaries and therefore gets a cheap ride all the way to Derby, Mansfield, Cotmanhay, Ripley, etc etc. A wrong call which I’m sure will have to be corrected at some point.

Apparently there’s a photo of me on Facebook wearing a mortar board. Can’t imagine where that came from.

I go for a Watt Bike session after work and the same athletic looking chap again gets on the bike next to me, clips in his proper shoes (I could have brought mine you know) and then dials his way up to 300 Watts. The girl in front of me is maintaining a steady 200, I think it’s best if I slot in somewhere between them at least on my warm up. That’s a 5k warm up, with another 5k as a cool down and a ramp session to 315 Watts in between. Five of the six bikes are taken tonight and when a chap decides to do a session on the shopper bikes next to us he only keeps it up for a couple of minutes. After looking at the five of us trying to out-die each other, he aborts and opts to do something less intimidating instead.

L walks the boys up to meet my bus. Anything to get out of ball chucking.

Tonight we finish series three of The Bridge

(Tuesday 22^nd December)

Pointless Walk

I’m on the bus today where all the talk is about the latest Red Arrow rebrand. Well not really, no one has mentioned it but they did leave a few leaflets lying around. On the 25th October the Chesterfield leg of the Red Arrow will become officially orphaned and will become the ‘Comet’. 

Trent Barton may run a decent bus service but they do have terrible taste in names. I still chuckle every morning when I see the cringingly named ‘Zoom’ stuck in the rush hour traffic.

L walks the boys up to meet my bus for a pointless walk, as Doggo refers to them. Hopefully it became apparent eventually that there was some point to it, even if it was only to meet me.

Back at home, L starts the night off by cracking open a bottle of Prosecco. I don’t think it’s quite for me and afterwards I think she comes to the conclusion it's not for her either....

(Friday 9^th October)