On the bike today, bloody windy though. Hopefully it’ll be
blowing in the right direction by the time I ahead home.
Daughter has arrived and is at home today with the boys, I
just hope the three of them are getting on.
Rather annoyingly the wind, rather than simply staying as it
was and blowing me home has now stopped completely.
In the evening I leave the girls to do what girls do on a
night in e.g. watch chick flicks, sing-a-long-a-Glee etc while I go for a night
out with the lads in Bingham.
It’s not a bad night taking in three pubs which yields two
different dark ales. Oddly the pub that we are in longest opts to show the
hockey at the Olympics rather than the team pursuit where we are crushing the Australians
and winning gold. Even more bizarrely the Wetherspoons is showing BBC
Parliament. It’s not even Westminster, it’s the Welsh parliament and it’s a repeat from
June.
Then I find out that rather than having a massive Glee-athon
the girls are both glued to the cycling and even the trampolining at home.
I forgot to put the boys’ food out this morning. I’m sure it didn't go unnoticed and MD will be crap at training tonight then. No change there then, well, he does have the odd inspired moment.
Daughter is ill but is still at the gym. L tells her to take it easy but was told she'd been taking it bloody easy for long enough... Who is this girl? I wonder if L got the wrong number? It will be interesting to meet this person masquerading as Daughter on Saturday.
There’s a bit of rain in the afternoon but training is still on and MD does ok. Clearly not holding too much of a grudge over his breakfast or about not getting biscuits. We have tea and biscuits at this venue, we never used to get that at the old place. It’s not really my thing of course but I’d hate to be antisocial.
Meanwhile L gyms, runs, paints, knits, reads etc, all while watching Glee. I think. She’s so action packed.
Well, I didn’t have to crawl up the stairs at work this morning, so the knee is clearly no worse after last night’s activity. In fact it’s a little better.
I spend some time reading the Cycling Weekly article ‘26 things to do before you die! on two wheels!’ which is a very unfortunate title if you remove the first exclamation mark.
L says it’ll be all psycho stuff such as freewheeling down Glencoe Mountain without using your brakes. Hmmm she’s not too far wrong. She also points out that 26 things to do before you die isn't many, and most people list 100 but they’re probably assuming you'll expire during one of them.
L and the dogs walk up to meet me off the bus, which is far easier on the knee than driving, and I find them by homing in on the barking. L greets me warmly (although not as warmly as the dogs do) before handing the encumbrances over to me, so that she can head off on her daily 5k run. Doggo looks gutted as she heads off on to the park without him.
Later, I head over to Bingham for our six monthly mini university reunion, just the three of us. Two other chaps couldn’t make it, one of them only pulling out ill this morning, so we’ll need to do the next one in a lot less than six months.
I get the impression Doggo is being a pain at home when L suggests sending him over in a taxi. It’s usually MD she complains about. Something about him interrupting her Glee DVD. Isn’t that what you call quality control?
I take L and Daughter to the station for their 8am train to London. I hope Daughter can stay awake. It’s Glee today, in that big tent thing in London. Not for me thanks.
The boys and I have a busy day at home. We have to, with the park shut for Batman and Robin. We cut the lawn and the hedge. Which I manage to do without cutting through a wasps’ nest this year.
L texts to say she has no need for her carefully planned directions as they simply need to follow the stream of teenage girls to the venue. On the way they stop to sip coffee on London Bridge. Hmmm, alright for some. I’m kicking a ball around the garden. They’re on the margaritas now, not sure if that’s pizza version or cocktail version. If it's the later, it sounds like the lunch budget is already under strain. And a Brazilian... I'm awaiting confirmation on that one.
Then, with the boys asleep, I channel hop to try and get a glimpse of the main attraction at this year's Glastonbury, without success. All I get is replays of a one legged Jessie J, which is no better than the two legged version. There’s not even a glimpse of the legendary Wombles.
Their first gig since 1976 has already been banished to a 2pm slot on the Avalon stage, the preserve of folk like KT Tunstall, after Michael Eavis said he regretted booking them. Eavis does not seem to grasp what a momentous occasion this reunion is. A reunion that out reunions all other reunions. Either that or he’s been leant on by the likes of Bono and Chris Martin who were worried their bands would play to near empty arenas if their sets clashed with the furry legends.
Thankfully there are a few clips on YouTube but nothing on the BBC site yet.
I actually get the right bus this morning. It must have been late. Rather reluctantly I start another Logan McRae audiobook and instantly regret it... severed heads on the beach his time.
L’s on audio as well. Although she’s listening to a CD that I converted to mp3s and then copied to her ipod. I hadn’t realised the downside of this. She almost always has her music on ‘shuffle’, which is not something I ever do, and her ipod intersperses the odd chapter of a book into the music. That’s almost hilarious. Here’s Marilyn Manson followed by a random book chapter followed by song from Glee. She has varied tastes. Then again Marilyn Manson followed by Glee is shocking enough. Which is why I don’t shuffle.
I run home. We have the ‘Potters Arf’ this weekend. So I'm doing a bit of (late) training, allegedly. I decide to do nine miles of which the first seven are pretty gruesome. They are not pleasant at all but then oddly I enjoy the last two. I’m not sure if that’s a good sign or not. In fact I probably could have carried on but thought I better not spoil it.
I get the bus the rest of the way and then when I'm home, I cook those Singapore Noodles that I’ve been promising. They’re a complete disaster but oddly popular with the girls at home. I suppose they taste alright but they come out the pan in one amorphous pasta lump due to my refusal to use any cooking oil. I'm trying to be healthy you see. The recipe needs tweaking I think.
The work in progress on the ‘gigography of my life’ continues apace. I’ve managed to track down my written diaries covering the period July 1988 to the end of 1994, when I went computerised. I’ve always been a bit of a diary fiend I’m afraid. I’m sure I have some earlier diaries somewhere. I can feel another loft search coming on.
L must still be ill because she’s been getting the bus to work both ways. She must be seriously ill, she usually walks everywhere. I feel guilty now. I should have done the dogs.
At least she appears to be well enough to be at work and to make the hairdressers but if she was too ill for the haircut I’d understand. Personally I think the extra length looks great but she disagrees.
My dark secret is out, as a new triathlon magazine arrives through the door. It’s a free sample. Honest. I've retired. It can probably go straight in the recycling.
Are Halfords any use for anything anymore? I gave up long ago trying to get find anything useful for my bike in there and now increasing so for my car as well. I wanted a new rear wiper blade arm that broke under the strain of the ice and snow. They used to do them but not anymore. How about a simple car fuse? Yes we have fuses sir but not the want you want. Thanks a lot. Time to pay over the odds at Vauxhall then.
Another relegation six pointer for Derby tonight but I’m not there to offer my support. I’m learning ‘multi skills’ as part of my coaching course. Surely they can cope without me. They can’t lose to Doncaster, can they? Oh yes they can. 3-1, amidst more pointless team changes. Just pick the best eleven players and pray. A good one to miss I think.
I hope the ill one is tucked up in bed sleeping off her illness but no, she’s watching Glee. Which is surely more than enough to cause a relapse.
‘Multi skills’ is actually rather good and fun. They teach us loads of interesting methods and games that stretch your muscles, whilst improving your coordination and balance. Could be useful. Particularly good are some warm-up techniques and I never knew that I could balance so many bean bags on my head whilst stood on a wobble board.
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