When public transport attacks!

Of all the ways for a Tuesday to begin, waiting for an HOUR at the station is not one I would choose by, well, choice.

Our story begins, dear reader, sometime in the depths of the night when the maintenance crew working on the line discovered that the pieces they had to replace the pieces of track they've just taken out do not, in every essential way that matters, fit. This means that not even the pitiful one-carriage, standing room only sop they've been running at peak times can't run in the morning. You would think, all things considered, that this would give them enough time to lay on sufficient alternative transport (bearing in mind this week they are already running coaches for most of the day).

So we wait. And wait. People getting texts from friends at the station up the line get hopeful news that a coach has finally arrived. We wait some more. It then transpires that the coach sent to the first station is not big enough and is going straight to the end of the line. It will be a further 45 minutes before another coach can reach us. We have already been waiting an hour, and I, and presumably everyone else, are now late for work without even getting out of Falmouth. People gradually disappear, either with hastily called friends, into town for the main bus (which is over twice as expensive and takes twice as long) or just home in a huff.

Finally, the gods send me deliverance in the shape of a Californian lady, who's on her way home and orders a taxi to get to the main line station, invites me to share it, and pays for the whole trip (£23)! (Only having a fiver on me, this had not been a feasible option).

Finally get to work an hour late. Don't think I missed much.

A short update on the week's highs and lows...

Are You My Mummy
Originally uploaded by CornishRambler.

Good Things

New Doctor Who books, three for two in Ottakers, and having nearly enough book tokens to cover the cost..

New Doctor Who ep, well creepy and Sapphire and Steel-ish. And an actual cliff hanger.

'im indoors getting a new car. Shiny.

Having two articles, an editorial piece, a poem and the back cover picture in the latest Dragonswood mag.

Going out on someone's leaving do and drinking enough to fell a small horse.

Bad Things

New car having leaky sunroof and having to sit in the garage until it gets a new one cause it keeps raining.

Not being able to find the latest Dragonswood mag to show your mum and being paranoid that you've put it in the recycling.

A restaurant that takes an hour to get your starters to you, thereby making you drink enough to fell a small horse and miss out on much of Saturday. And having people keep mention bits of conversations that you have no memory of. And having a photo that you have no memory of taking.

Selections from this week's Falmouth Packet

Historic punt Curlew.
Not a headline you'd want to risk without a proofreader that one.

Woman saved by bush.
Apparently it stopped her fall down a cliff. She'll never walk the same again...

Eddies in the space-time continuum (is he?)

Ah, the natural bias of the universe to get me to drink more alcohol than I should...went for lunch at The Lounge, in Truro, a very nice cafe-type place, and ordered a glass of wine with my lunch - and having got the drinks we waited, and waited for our food - half an hour later the (rather cute) waitress returned to confess that she'd lost our ticket and it was being cooked now. She went away, only to return a few minutes later to offer us free drinks. Well, I had to have more wine really, didn't I....

***

Across the room in the cafe were a group of cyclists, two of which I recognised from the day before, when I encountered them at Sainsbury's roundabout asking me the best way to Scorrier (the bizarreness of this will only strike local readers, but suffice to say the best answer would have been 'well, I wouldn't start from here'). I wanted to go up and ask them if they'd got safely back to where they were staying, but didn't quite like to in case they'd spent the night forlonly circling the back lanes after my directions.

***

New Doctor Who books, featuring CE and Rose! Three for two in Ottakers, £6.99 each, nicely-sized hardbacks, and me with book tokens left from Valentine's Day. Woo Hoo!

Starlings In My Store Cupboard

Rather more excitement than usual this morning at work, with the discovery of a starling in the store cupboard. It must have got in from the roof space down beside some pipes, and couldn't get out again. I sidled in, opened the window and sidled out again, and we watched through the door until it figured the way out. Going in to check for damage, the only droppings were on the free-standing fan where it had been perching. Yes, the shit had actually hit the fan...

Progress: Stationery

Label on a set of sticky page-marker tags at work: "Removable. Important: Test before using."

Now, I could be wrong, but I'm fairly sure there's a flaw in that somewhere...

New Look

Some days you wake up and just hate everything...

Woo hoo, shiny new colours. And I've even managed to put all the links back in without buggering it up majorly. Time for a celebratory chicken sandwich, methinks.

Electionblog: The Future Is Yellow(y)

Yeah, okay, so this post is a bit tardy, but I've been busy with, y'know, stuff. So anyway. This is possibly the first time that anyone I've ever voted for has actually got in, with Julia Goldsworthy (Lib) beating Candy Atherton (Lab) into a cocked hat. The whole county (and further up) is now yellow (or at least a sort of yellowy-goldy-orangey).

On the night of the election, I went to visit a friend, and ran into prowling Labour electioneers trying to force people to the polls with cattle prods. As I went in the gate, they cried "There she is!" - a cry designed to make you start running if ever there was one (or do I just have a guilty sub-conscious?). "Mrs B__," they persisted - "Sorry, I'm just visiting", I said politely, shutting the gate on them. "Don't shut that, we're coming in anyway." They advanced down the path behind me as I knocked on the door. "Oh come in, you don't have to knock" - "Yes, but I've got canvassers behind me, I didn't want them following me in!" (Resisting the impulse to yell quick, lower the portcullis, they're right behind me!). She was then stuck there for ages as they poured out their horror on her that not only hadn't she voted, but didn't know who to vote for.

Now is it a failing in my character that I'd have lied 'oh yes, I've voted, goodbye' and promptly shut the door on them? It's bad enough the bloody party hounding us by phone (three calls, each time being told not interested) but to chase you to your door - well, that'll be why I voted yellowy...

Summer is a come unto day...

Oss (2002)
Originally uploaded by CornishRambler.

...which is obviously why it started with a torrential downpour. Still, it had the good sense to stop and turn to sunshine by the time that we (Chris, Matt & me) got to Padstow for the Obby Oss, which we celebrated in traditional style by working our way round as many different types of fast food as possible, before disappearing into a pub with my cousin. Oh, and we did see the Osses too...