Yet more of the same as I board the good old 6.46 to
Paddington - late by a mere 5 minutes - as is the way with Last Poor Western
trains. It's a bright start insofar as there is daylight and I'm getting used
to what it's like to not travel in the dark now that summer has finally
arrived. You can tell its summer because
I'm not wearing wellingtons - other than that, you'd never know.
The Stroud valley is resplendent in the spring green and browns
making for an enjoyable trundle on the way to pig-town to join the mainline. I
often think I wouldn't mind living out here - but then I see the state of some
of the places and think again. Stroud is "artistic" in that its full
of people claiming to be artists. On a more down to earth note - the ageing
ex-hippies of Stroud like making tie-die t-shirts and wind chimes using the
traditional Glastonbury methods of being stoned out of their heads during the
manufacturing process.
Fair enough - that is a gross generalisation of the people of
Stroud and I apologise to many of them - but it's accurate enough for you to
understand the "vibe" of the place. It's a disused textiles town -
with many a mechanic / furniture retailer / used-car salesman / pizza deliverer
operating from ex-warehouses which are themselves, ex-mills. That's not to say its not a
"vibrant" town. There's certainly enough entertainment to keep the
local police fully employed, it's just not the brightest button in the box,
shall we say. Don't get me wrong - the valley is beautiful - the town, less so.
In summary, you're not missing much.
By the time we reach Swine-town, the train is fully laden and
the hard core commuters are joined by those taking the short hop to
Reading. It's days like this that I'm
glad there's no wi-fi on board - a chance to clear my head (by writing this)
before it becomes full of the whys and wherefores that the week will bring.
This week sees all four of us located in the red coloured
hotel chain which will make a pleasant change from the grey. We have a plate
load of things to do - starting today with some executive "help".
Always interesting - and usually not quite as bad as you imagine it will be -
but I'm not counting any chickens this time. We're in a pickle and whilst this
is not a pickle that we have made, were still expected to find a way out of the
jar. Challenging.
The Hedge has also persuaded me to invest in some new
Bluetooth headphones. I've been looking for a set for a while, but on Thursday
he discovered that the cost of a pair of stereo and very lightweight with
integrated microphone for use on the telephone, had come down a fair bit and we
both merrily parted with about 45 quid. The annoying tangle of headphone cable
is nearing its end.
The interesting part of this transaction though, is the delivery
method. They are to be left at a "drop box" in the city for us to
collect. This is an Amazon feature service for when you're travelling and not
able to accept delivery at home. Assuming we can find it, and assuming the drop
hasn't been compromised by those behind the iron curtain, the collection should
be made later today. "Zee Red Fox is sleeping in zee woods" - to
which the obvious response is - "but only while zee Blue Badger hunts in
zee springtime" - or something... All very cloak and dagger.
In other news - well, the isn't much other news actually. I got
home on Thursday, managed a beer on Thursday night. Slogged through a mahoosive
spreadsheet in between conference calls for most of the day on Friday. Cooked a
curry. Played Taxi driver for daughter, Mrs G and the Lodger. Failed to win the
lottery. Re-painted the middle bathroom. Watched the Hobbit in 3D. Helped with
various hangovers on Sunday (not mine I might add). Reviewed some numbers ahead
of today's meeting. Got out on the bike for a bit. Saw the Chinese Grand Prix
and some of the Masters Golf. Cooked a Lasagne. Saw "Endeavour" -
"Inspector Morse" when he was young and that was about it. All pretty
quiet really.
The Hobbit - much better than I'd expected. I think all the
reviews of it being long in the telling, and stretching the story to its limits
had put me off the idea, but actually I really enjoyed it. The 3D version is
split across 2 discs (which is unusual) but then at a running time of 3 hours,
to be expected I suppose. This break perhaps makes it more digestible than a
single 3 hour stint - but to be honest, I barely noticed. Magical landscapes of
New Zealand and nice story telling work all round. I wish I didn't have to wait
for the next "instalment" but Peter Jackson has clearly been to the
George Lucas school of Film Farming, having learnt how to really milk-it.
Still, it's more than worth a watch - 8/10.
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