where art collides philosoperontap

Hooray

I needed to take the bike to the tip. The cost of repairing the gears was more than the cost of a new bike so it no longer served any useful purpose and took up valuable space in the garage. I did go to the tip yesterday but there was no room for the bike.

So I left the bike in the drive in the hope that it would be stolen. It was. Objective achieved. We do live on a main road and get a fair bit of footfall outside the front gate. Job done.

My initial jubilation at a plan well executed is tempered with a certain tinge of regret that there are dishonest people out there who seek to steal from me. At least it endorses the maintaining of the cctv and burglar alarm. I won’t bother looking to see who it was on the cctv recording on this occasion although there is a slight element of curiosity there.

Moving on, today I am off to the Isle of Man. Anne is taking me to the station at 9.45 for a 10.16 train. Exciting eh? I’ll have a week on my own with dad before the noisy ones turn up. I am mostly packed. Have to throw in the waterproof coat and a few other bits and bobs. Although the forecast is mostly hot hot hot this is the Isle of Man we are talking about here. Be prepared eh? We have many photos of us all sheltering under the canopy of Laxey tram station in the rain – taken over a number of years.

Hope you like the featured image. It’s Lincoln central station platform 3a. Looks as if two pics have been stitched together doesn’t it?

The other thing to observe here is that trains always come in on platform 3a which is a short walk along from where the turnstiles are. Most folk however just stand near the entrance and have to walk along when the train arrives. Hence the fact that there is a gap between me and everyone else on the platform in this photo. I move along to platform 3a and am usually the first on to the train with the pick of the seating (for what its worth).

Worth a mention is the “chink” in conversation I picked up when walking past two taxi drivers outside the station – “she can’t even get the dusting right”. Ooo.

More updates as they happen…

Arrived at London City Airport at 1pm. My flight is at 4.20. I’m afar too early. Can’t even check the bag in! What was I thinking 🙂 Probably built in a huge amount of contingency. As it is its far too early to even have a pint. Don’t want to arrive in the Isle of Man three sheets to the wind.

…

The wait at the Airport

There is a skill to waiting at airports. Normally it involves sitting in the BA club lounge eating and drinking but on this occasion not only am I flying Economy class with humble Bronze Exec Club status but I don’t want to arrive in the Isle of Man sem- inebriated.

That said I do have a pint of London Pale Ale on the table in front of me together with a tiny dish of mixed nuts that cost £3.95. They are probably the most expensive tiny dish of mixed nuts I’ve ever had. I don’t know what it works out as on a per nut basis but it will be a lot.

What’s more this table is wobbly and when I sat down I spilt some of my beer. Doh. It’s not a particularly comfortable seat either. Hmm.

The pint was £5.95 as well. Still, cheaper than paying for a business class ticket to sit in the lounge for 90 mins.

I do normally fly business class if it merits it. Not if the fare is massively more or if the length of the flight isn’t worth it, both of which being the case on this occasion.At least where I am sat I can see the Olymics coverage on the box. Fwiw. I have grown to like the olympics. I probably didn’t watch them for 30 years until the London 2012 games which I really enjoyed. Partly I guess because for much of that time we didn’t have a TV. We had been married or at least living together for almost 20 years before a TV came along. Not sure it was really worth the wait.