An Embarrassing Moment

Checking this year’s Thunder Run results ‘our’ team of five seems to have gone ahead with only four of them and they did 14 laps. There was a big gap in the middle overnight where I assume no one went round. I think we were well out of that.

On Tuesday, L is working in London where there are so many police around. She seems quite pleased to have been searched by a very cute police dog. I assume they were checking she wasn’t off to bomb Boris.

It’s very hot and sweaty on the bike when I cycle in to work. It’s also very embarrassing on the way home when I couldn’t unclip my foot from my pedal at QMC Island and had to opt to topple sideways onto the grass verge. It seems one of the bolts securing the cleat to my shoe has come out meaning the cleat now just spins, leaving my shoe stuck on the pedal.

It was a right pain to prize it off the pedal when I get home but I manage it eventually without damaging anything.

I am then off work for the rest of the week and spend the whole of Wednesday at Locko Park, getting sunburnt and insect bitten, where we setting up for our dog show this weekend.

I manage to get away early evening because L and Daughter have talked me into doing

‘The Run’ with them. We have done this several times before. Four years in a row in fact from 2008 to 2011 but not since. It starts from the Navigation Inn in Breaston and is a 4 mile run.

We used to get a mug for doing it, in the first three years, and it still seems a rather retro venture by only having a postal entry form. Which they seem to have photocopied and uploaded upside down.

Unfortunately L can barely walk so doesn’t run and Daughter is injured too, so I end up doing a run I was only doing this because those two were but I enjoy it. At 29:32 I was only a minute slower than my 2011 time when I recall I was injured, although a full four minutes slower than my best in 2010.

(Wednesday 24^th July)

Gearing Up

I’m in London again today and, as is often the case, it takes four hours to drive down there but at least it’s a successful day for once. Even the weather behaved, there were a few showers but I think we missed the worst of it.

While I’m down there an email goes round from work asking for our ‘preference for the annual Christmas bottle’. Yay. These most certainly haven’t been annual for the past two years, they’ve been discontinued. It’s good to have them back.

After being wiped all over the velodrome by assorted veteran cyclists last night, it is even more vital that I ‘gear up’ my track bike so that I can get my own back in the New Year. To those ends, L is cog shopping for my Christmas present.

(Wednesday 13^th December)

Competent Person

My company’s London project, that I am heavily involved in, is already slipping and although we knew our trip down there could still be called off at any minute, my colleague and I finally head down there on Tuesday.

Apparently I am our company's designated ‘Competent Person’ on site. If only they knew. I am asked to tick a box to say I have completed the Competent Person training? Have I? Suppose it’s called life, isn’t it? I tick the box.

When L texts to ask ‘How’s it going?’ Typically with this customer, the answer is 'not great'. That is until we suddenly had some success getting everything set up at 4:50pm. Hopefully we’ll get more done on Wednesday. Then we head to the local Premier Inn for the night. Who don’t want to serve us food. Have we booked? A room? Yes. A table for food? No. Didn’t know we had to.

The hotel is right next to the Enfield Brewery but obviously they don’t sell any in the hotel. Later on I have a walk around the area and find, as I expected, it’s purely industrial. No even a dodgy backstreet boozer, let alone a pint of Enfield.

I return to my room where it’s a bit lonely without a dog on my bed, asleep with his head resting on my knee, and without a girl beside me, asleep with her head resting on her book. Although back at home, she is awake because the boys won’t let her sleep and Doggo keeps lapping the stairs. They seem to be missing me and she ends up sleeping downstairs so that they can wait by the front door for me. Bless.

The progress we made late on Tuesday isn't improved on the next day, although none of that is our fault. So we will be coming back down on Friday.

(Wednesday 15^th November)

Softening The Blow

I have an early start as I’m down in London for the day for work. This means L has an early start too because once I’m up and gone, MD won’t let her dally in bed. So I soften the blow by taking her up a cup of tea, which just winds him up even more.

My trip goes well, so well in fact that at first I think I’ll be done by 10.30 but they manage to find a few issues to detain me but nothing major. They were also surprisingly nice to me considering the problems they've had but I’m still forced to dine out at Tesco Express for lunch.

I do finish in time to grab a pint in the Parcel Yard before I pop into the First Class lounge at St Pancras. Sadly there is no champagne on offer in there, only the same biscuits and coffee you get on the train.

(Friday 27^th October)

Totally Nailed It

I’m in London again today for yet another meeting. Thankfully it’s a late start so we cruise, more or less, through the traffic which wouldn’t have been the case if the planned tube strike had gone ahead. Thankfully they seemed to forget what they were striking about and called it off.

The meeting itself is brief and goes well. It is so brief that we have chance to nip to their other site so that I can show my colleague what we’ve done there and we’re still out of London well before rush hour. We cruise past Luton and then stop for a quick snack.

Then just when we think we’ve totally nailed it we hit Kegworth, just twenty minutes from home, and barely move for over an hour. My colleague who is driving tries to find a different route. Never works... doesn’t work. We’re that long L suspects we’re in the pub but sadly, no. She’ll have to start our night in without me.

(Thursday 5^th October)

The No Rush Hour

I’m back in London today for a meeting, so it’s an early start. I meet my boss at the Holiday Inn on the M1 junction and we head down in his car.

For once it’s a decent trip by road. The meeting has a late start and an early finish, so we miss most of the rush hour(s) traffic. We are back in Derby for 4pm despite stopping for lunch at Ed’s Diner, I’m home early to chuck balls and in plenty of time for tonight’s dog training.

(Wednesday 27^th September)

Doing Nothing For Seven And A Half Hours

Today I’m back in London for a meeting and I meet my boss at 7am at Junction 25 of the M1. After slipping out of the house so early and leaving L asleep in bed, I later get reprimanded for neglecting my duties as an alarm clock.

Travelling to and from London is the usual traffic hell. In fact it’s probably worse. It takes us three and half hours to get down there and four hours to get back.

Then there’s the fact that no one from the actual company we’re visiting turns up for their own meeting, preferring to leave their three contractors to it, makes it all a very bizarre day.

When I finally get back home, L is out running around Forest Rec with Daughter doing a parkrun training run. Sounds like there's some serious training going on there.

I decide to skip a third night in a row dog training and go to pick L up instead. I’m actually feeling a bit shattered after all this travel (a.k.a. sitting around doing nothing for seven and a half hours), so I could have done with some sleep tonight but Doggo has other ideas with one of his choking fits.

(Wednesday 12^th July)

Say Something Nice

I come to work on the bus because I was supposed to be heading down to London this evening for work, so that I can make an early start on a project we’re doing in Islington on Friday. I’m also supposed to be there Tuesday and Wednesday next week.

However, this week’s trip has been cancelled as they are behind with the installation of the equipment. I’m waiting to hear when we are rescheduling for.

At least its got me out of tennis... although I suppose I could try to arrange a game a short notice. Nah, I’ll skip it. I shall head home to cook, dodge bees (we have lodgers) and chuck balls.

L meanwhile drugs herself up and heads to gym and aquarobics.

Apparently today is ‘Say Something Nice Day’. Which is nice, obviously, but L never believes me when I say something nice...

(Thursday 1^st June)

Meeting For Meeting's Sake

I’m in London today, for work, for a largely pointless meeting organised by someone whose job is to organise meetings. We go on the train. Nobody really has much to say to each other as we only met just before Christmas and little has moved on since then therefore the meeting finishes very early, as we suspected it would.

This leaves us with several hours to kill, as moving to an earlier train will cost 60 quid each. I’m really not sure where the logic is in that, as we are offering to free up seats on a peak time train where spaces are scarce in favour of a mid-afternoon off peak train that will be half empty. They should be paying us.

Once back home, we have an early night as L says she’s shattered and needs her bed, not too shattered I hope. Then we get up again later to eat.

(Monday 13^th February)

The Light Of Day

I am down in London for work today and we are going on the train. Which is a real novelty for my company. First I have to drive to work where I park before being picked up by my boss who drives the 400 metres or so to the station and then pays to park in their car park. I find that odd but I realise most people wouldn’t.

We are visiting two waste processing plants in London. Oh the high life I lead but I suppose I should be grateful as it’s very rare they let me see the light of day outside the office at all. I am handed a hard hat and a yellow jacket to go with the boots I’ve been told to wear. Health and Safety you know.

The first visit goes well and then we get a lift to the second one where we are served a decent lunch before the second visit which also goes well. So well in fact that we don’t have to wait for the 5pm train and get an earlier one back as my boss had booked an open ticket without realising. Consequently I am actually back in Derby before 5pm.

Whilst I am in London I find out that both L and I have got Great North Run places in the Times ballot. ‘Oh bloody hell’ says L. This wasn’t the plan you see. The plan was that if both of us entered the ballot we’d have double the chance of getting a place. Then if L had got one and I hadn’t she’d have gifted it to me.

She says she might have to go for a run tonight. Yes, lots of races to train for now.

(Tuesday 10^th January)

Day Trip To London

The boys get a ‘new morning’ today as we schedule a ball chuck before leaving for London just after 8am. We drive down to Stanmore to park with the aim of getting the tube in from there but Stanmore is full. Eventually we end up parking at Edgware and make our way down to the Embankment from there. Her interview is right on the banks of the Thames at Somerset House.

Naturally we wait in a pub, have a couple of drinks and, when Daughter returns after her interview, lunch.

We also attempt to check out the Roman baths, which they say are probably not actually Roman, on Strand Lane. The only way you can see the baths is to peer through a dirty window into the darkness beyond and see... practically nothing. Which is a shame.

I have cancelled squash, to save rushing back, and as I have a lot of Thursday ‘appointments’ coming up, squash will move temporarily to Tuesdays from next week. It’s a good job I have cancelled it as I never would have made it as the traffic is backed up from junction 11 down to junction 8 on the M1 due to authorities apprehending a lorry full of suspected illegal immigrants on the slip road of junction 11. The hold up also puts getting Daughter back for her train in serious doubt but we screech into the station car park just in time. 

(Thursday 22^nd September)

Time For Emergencies

This morning I finally manage to get some exercise in, ride to work on the bike and help walk the dogs. It’s been quite a varied morning.

Daughter has landed another interview in London. We work out that the train fare is going to be £184 just for her and L would like to accompany her. Therefore I’m tempted to take the day off work and take them both as that will work out far cheaper. I have kept three days holiday back for emergencies. I think this counts as such. I order her an Oyster card.

I dog train while L is first at the hospital then at her parents. We rendezvous as usual in the Masons where I partake of a dizzy blonde. It’s Robinson’s, I hope he doesn’t mind.

(Wednesday 14^th September)

An Unscheduled Diversion

I cycle today and it doesn’t rain. Quite a novelty.

L is in London today for work, I just hope she closed the stair gate properly before she went.

Both boys are actually behind the gate when I get home, so it seems she did, Either that or they’ve temporarily lost the knack of jimmying it open.

L has a stressful day in London and seems to be reneging on a promise to drag me off to bed later, supplanting it with an offer to drag me off to the pub instead. Pub or bed? What a dilemma! So we do both, naturally.

The former is done sat outside the Vat & Fiddle with both dogs off their leads because I didn’t bring them as I didn’t expect this unscheduled diversion. So that’s traumatic obviously but soothed by dark ale number 47 which is Burton Bridge Bramble Stout.

Three to go and then I can go back to the pale side.

(Tuesday 21^st June)