On Tuesday I started another training course at work, which takes me off the phones and shortens my working hours a bit. Not too bad then, and as Lottie also felt good we decided to go out to town. It was almost 8 before we got a bus to Manchester, but we enjoyed plenty of drinks. First at the Salisbury near Oxford Rd station, then at Common in the Norther Quarter. Beer is always goo there, as is the atmosphere. We met some good people there and followed them to Matt & Phreds jazz club. It always strikes me just how much I feel at home in that place, possibly as it's so much like the Odessa haunt in Nijmegen. The Jon Ellis band were grand too - I hadn't heard a saxophone in a while, and certainly never as good as this. We enjoyed live music until very very late, after which I enjoyed 2.5 hours of sleep and got back to work again - a bit dizzy but otherwise fine. I love not spending time on the phones..
My left eye lid has been twitching a bit, on and off over the past few days. I blame fatigue and discontent - I work 37.5 hours and commute 20, while I'm speeding towards my thirtieth with so many goals yet unattained. Right now, sat at my desk, I can feel my right cheek twitching too though. This is a bit more annoying and possibly due to having spent time with Lottie and her parents this weekend. Lottie's got the rougher end of the stick, as her mum came back from a nursing home incredibly frail. It's quite upsetting to see her fast decline. Then there's the shouting between the relatives, the state of the house we live in, Lottie's health issues, the dismal weather..
But why I should I blog just to whine. I'll be positive again soon enough. I'd smile already, but I twitch too much.
I bought a wee remote controlled car two weeks ago and before trying this outside, I thought I might strap my camera to it and start filming. Have a look, to know what it's like being a drunken and disorderly mouse. Oh, and avoid radiators.
The Manchester Evening news is screaming about congestion charge plans every day. Letters sent to the editor usually nag about how much money it would cost drivers and how business would go down. Though I'm not in favour of it per se, I cannot stand the nagging anymore. Here's my letter to the editor.
As a cyclist and bus passenger (a road charge freeloader then) daily travelling 30 miles between Salford and Wythenshawe, I've sofar not whined about spending 4 hours on buses each day. But the rants of the wheelieboxed nags have become unbearable. Public transport costs me the same as the proposed charge, despite it being so slow I can get to work faster on a pushbike. With your own motor, you're faster and free. From the top level of a bus it's quite clear the inefficiency of cars causes holdups, on their own taking enough road space to fit 4 cyclists or half a bus - and occupying it poorly. In a queue you're blethering sheep trying to roar, but think of yourselves free-roaming cattle please. By all means have the liberty to hug kerbs and bus lanes, to idle or park where you like, to brake only for cameras and to try killing the likes of me. It's about time you start paying for the pleasure though, so I could get a move on too.