Today I’m driving a white van to Birmingham and back, so I’d better get into character. According to Wikipedia I’ve got to aim for thoughtless, aggressive and fast. Before anyone makes any comments about my driving, especially anyone who knew me when I was 17, I should state that I’m no longer a driver with a heavy right foot. Well… by local standards I’m still too fast, but that’s not too tricky to achieve.
Maybe I should go for the stereotype in a more subtle way. Perhaps buy a copy of the Sun to put on the dashboard, and park somewhere stupid. Oh yeah, mustn’t forget to listen to Jeremy Vine on Radio 2 at lunchtime (a bit of reasonable debate to keep the balance).
I’ve spent the weekend getting our Breakfast Room ready to be decorated. We’re cheating and getting decorators in, which is supposed to save us time. On paper it’s a good plan. I’m sure they’ll do a better job than us, and in half the time.
All that’s left to do now is shift the old 1940s dresser out of the room (inherited from the previous owner) and the carpet. The carpet is the most disgusting example I’ve ever seen. It’s patterned, shabby, and doesn’t actually fit the room. The floor is only covered because different bits of carpet have been laid next to each other in a sort of grotesque jigsaw. There’s no proper underlay and no carpet grips. Underneath the carpet is a sort of perished rubber lining that’s rotten, and comes off as dust as you lift it. Under this is a combination of old newspaper and lino.
I’m not looking forward to this, but until the room is empty we can’t sit down with a glass of wine, so I’m off to breath rubber dust!
It’s been a while since I last posted anything here (William is putting me to shame with his blog). We all went up north to see my brother, sister-in-law and two nephews a couple of weeks back. My new nephew is called Theo, and he’s great. Everyone really enjoyed holding him, including Emily who was over the moon to be allowed to hold a real baby. It was a good visit & we were lucky with the weather. We visited new places (Burnley was a low point) and despite Alfie being sick (he has quite an ability to bounce back!) everyone had fun.
Apart from our trip up north nothing very exciting has happened. Work is really busy as we slog through a major project that’s running behind schedule (the delay isn’t our fault!). Can’t wait until that’s over. I’m beginning to look to Easter as the light at the end of the tunnel. Nearly there!
This morning I became and uncle again! My brother Pete and his partner Chris have a new baby boy! That’s about all the detail I have at the moment because my nephew has yet to be named and I’ve already managed to lose the note with his weight at birth on it (Lou says he was 8lb 9). I don’t suppose that really matters much. Hopefully we’ll all be able to meet the new member of the family soon and get to play with his big brother Ewan as well.
