Categories: uncategorized
Date: 13 June 2004 00:14:00
What on earth possessed me to say I'd do this cycle ride tomorrow? I ask you - what a stupid thing to do!
I went on a proper training session this afternoon with the Smudgelets, who were made to promise not to laugh before I would agree even to don my helmet (which unfortunately clashes with my bike!). We went to the forest where you're allowed to cycle on the gravel roads. It's about the nearest spot which doesn't involve a) cars and b) serious uphill struggles. The downside of it is, of course, the gravel. I use the term "road" in its loosest possible sense too. You know that sensation you get when driving over a cattle grid? Well, that was what it felt like all the way round. Mind you, the pack of dogs happily chasing anything on two wheels helped motivate me to keep moving! I beat Smudgelet, and managed one and a half more circuits than I expected.... and Tiddles went on to do the third!
Thank you Welsh Dragon and Dave C for building the first of the filing cabinets. I didn't really leave them out so you'd be forced to offer your assistance, honest. The fact that they were in the way of the sofa was... er... pure coincidence! What was a delight was getting Tiddles to make one this afternoon - apprentice working under the supervision of the flat-pack-expert.
We mislaid father this evening. He went for a walk just before we started the filing cabinet. When we had finished, I made some tea and phoned him to tell him to come round. No answer. I sent Smudgelet round and he returned to say Grandad hadn't come back yet. Alarm bells began to ring. Hmmm... an hour and a half was rather a long time for him to be out walking. He'd probably called in at P's or B's for a cuppa, but what if he'd fallen somewhere? Tiddles volunteered to go and walk the route he generally takes, and to call at the two houses and see if he was there. He returned empty handed. Where on earth could Dad be? I asked a neighbour to sit with the boys while I went to see if I could track him down. Of course, he hadn't taken his mobile, so I couldn't call him. I set off up the drive, and suddenly Tiddles shouted after me to say that grandad had just phoned and left a message on the answer machine. In a panic in case he was at the hospital, I raced back into the house. "Hello, I thought you might like to know that I have been having tea with a friend. I dropped in for a drink and she insisted on feeding me too. I'll be home later"! Boy, did he get it in the neck when he got home. I finally got my revenge for the time he berated me at the age of 19 for not phoning home when I decided to stay half an hour longer at my friend's house for coffee.
I am going to bed now. I think I'm going to need some sleep before tomorrow. Think of me, won't you, between 11 and 1 tomorrow as I subject my body to the torture of at least one circuit of the speedway track, with a number pinned to my back and a bright red helmet on my head. This is all your fault, Ed_m !