This week is not one to remember. Its been, quite frankly, shit.
As a whole, its actually been very positive in places. I have seen herself today,
which was utterly fantastic (we watched Stardust which was pretty damn awesome and very satisfying). Went on a rather entertaining training course (both a positive and a negative) and had a moderately successful week at work. Problem with all of these events is that they have been tarnished by a big black splodge of discomfort, financial pain and irritation.
Lets begin from the top:
- To begin with, its not been the best week for my bike (The newer one). Not only has it been a week of general frustrations with various parts of it (grr @ front derilleur); but it has been targeted by vandals, not once but twice; and to top it off, its been pretty damn awful on the roads. Ill go over the vandalising, as it belongs to the fun that has been the trip home from Cambridge.
- Travelling to Altringham from Leeds in the morning peak was simply ghastly. The train to and from Manchester Piccadilly was actually fine. Not too busy (mostly as I travel outside the busy times of day) and actually pleasant.These trains were on time, and rather punctual. The Metrolink, the tram serving Greater Manchester, was bloody awful. Not only overpriced, but it was consistently late and crowded. I arrived late to my training course, after leaving 2 hours previously. Total trip distance is only 46 miles! GRR.
- Today. The trip to Cambridge was lovely. Quiet trains, punctual and pleasant all round. Locked my bike up at Leeds station early in the morning in my usual paranoid way (2 Trelock BS540 locks with my bike helmet arranged to prevent thievery). My current cycle lights aren’t removable, and so they were left on. I took my cycle computer with me. Went to Cambridge, had lots of fun and snuggles, and the drama began the second i rounded the corner from herself’s house. First and foremostly, my waterbottle leaked in my bag. This had impact on two critical items in my bag. #1 My book. It got soaked. I have managed to dry it off suitably, and I finished reading it on the way home. #2 My Nintendo DS. Cock. Now, I have dried it out a bit. Turned it on when I got home to assess the damage (if any). It turned on, and worked. Only issue is that the top screen went all weird, and now only lights up without showing any data. Needless to say, its on top of my computer extractor fan, drying out some more.
This was, alas, only the start of my fun. I left her house a bit late, so I was already rushing to Cambridge station. Because of the bag drama, I found myself running to catch the elusive “Last train of the day”. Was a bit miffed to find out, that after expending all of that effort, the train was delayed by 20 minutes. I chilled out, coffee’d myself and waited. Trains home were consistently late, and busy, and cramped. GRRR. Not the worst though. I came back and found my bike vandalised at Leeds train station. Not just mine either! Every fucking bike parked there had been hit. Cycle lights removed from bikes, saddles stripped, tyres let down. I escaped quite lightly with only my cycle lights (which were screwed on!) being stolen. My tyres and saddle and luggage rack escaped unscathed. So, lucky I suppose. I do have spare lights at home.
So yeah, even after such a nice day, I am going to go to sleep angry. Slightly less now that I have written this. But it is a frustration I could have done without this week. There are some more aggravations to add above, but I gaurentee they will kick into next week as well. So if they still annoy me next week… you will be hearing about them.
