A Simple Travelogue (For Those Without a Dictionary)

The body, my body at least, adjusts quite quickly to the time change but less quickly to different climate. My enthusiasm for activity was muted by the rising heat, partly because it is unfamiliar and partly because it was exceptionally hot. On Wednesday the temperature rose into the 90s after being forecast for the 80s. In the morning it was pleasant although the brightness of the sun means sunglasses for blue eyes. I had some banking to do and a mercifully straightforward visit to Desert Regional Medical Center to square things away with Billing. I still was not pleased with the charges but I have the paperwork to prove I have paid. It had been wonderful as usual to have breakfast in the garden and was wonderful much later to sit under the stars in my pyjamas, without so much as a shiver, while Greg finished his jacuzzi. In Palm Springs there is still light pollution but much less so that unaccustomed stars fill the night sky.

My main activity for the day had been to photograph sculpture in El Paseo, Palm Desert. There is so much on public display and outside galleries that it is hard to know where to begin or, indeed, end. The end for today was brought about by near heat exhaustion and an urgent need to rehydrate which we did at Il Sogno. A little part of me was feeling mild desperation that I would never have time to process all the photographs and another part of me wanted not to be stuck on the sculptures. I was pleased when I came across an amazing fire truck and a few Chinese restaurants. In the desert (cities) you tend not to see modest shopfront takeaways as are prolific in England but large restaurants on large plots.

In the Valley, Borders has survived the book trade cull which claimed 200 of its branches and had magazines Barnes & Noble did not. In the latter (visited first), my frustration rose again with the style of stocking common in the US. The trade makes extensive use of new covers and misleading advertising to publish a given book over and over. I am certain that a significant number of people are bamboozled into buying something they have already read especially when a new cover is often placed under 'New in Fiction'. In the UK, I would take this to Trading Standards.

Today (Thursday) we plan to return to Borrego Springs. This may prove unwise not because I expect another one-sided cactus encounter but because the temperatures are again due in the high 90s. In the event that my bones are being bleached this time tomorrow, I leave Stephanie my dictionary and Simon my sense of humour.

A Report From The Valley

The optimism of the rosy glow of the last vestiges of dusk over the distant mountains to the north belied the grittier scene in the valley below. We were back in the Coachella Valley, Palm Springs of course, a gauntlet run of typical point-and-shoot, overconfident drivers who deserve more accidents than seem to actually happen. The innate oblivion of the freeway driver symbolises the unconscious complacency with which a great but overdrawn nation is speeding towards the inevitable end of conspicuous consumerism. The first tremors of the socio-financial 'big-one' have been felt on the gas station forecourts where even the most inward looking of urban backwoodsmen have noticed the $4.20 a gallon tag. Most everywhere else though, life is lived as it has been since the Marshall Plan baled out war-crippled Europe. There are messages of necessity which have rippled throughout most of the western world but have failed to penetrate the force-field of neo-isolationist ignorance which stretches between two great oceans. A very simple example of this is how the sub-mininum wage, irrelevant packing drone in the supermarket just stuffs your groceries into as many carrier bags as come to hand. In 10,000 years time when cockroaches are the dominant life form on this planet, they'll still be munching the decaying remains of a long forgotten oil industry. At the tills (registers) they still don't take Chip and PIN, preferring instead to sustain the inevitable fraudulent losses of a signature based system. Can no-one teach America anything?

So much for the macro-view. Down at the human level, there is always an air of unspoken desperation in the listless movements of fast food employees. They know, however hard they work, however pleasant they are to customers, they'll still be making $7 an hour (or whatever) and taking the bus home. Surprisingly, I feel sorry for them. It shouldn't have to be this way. But they are part of a system which is killing itself. When they give you two pots of honey mustard where only one is needed, the momentary gratification of the individual is overshadowed by the loss to the planet. When, a half hour later that pot, unopened, is in the trash, another dolphin dies. This is a chaos theory for Gaia; a story of unintended consequences, but, in the internet era, is there any excuse for ignorance? These dark ruminations do not require tumultuous events across the world to change what is mostly good but a million small thoughts and consequent kind actions to remove what is bad from that greater goodness before it is too late for our children..........and the dolphins.

PS: yes, I did come here Club Class but surely my APD paid the environmental cost of that. I feel certain that my government properly directed the revenue to appropriate green issues rather than replenishing stocks of cruise missiles recently depleted by not targetting Colonel Gadaffi.

Random Thoughts

The nature of 'random' in security checks means that not everyone is selected for a particular process. Thus when the security worker ant and his female successor exhorted everyone to take off their belts - one of four items now flagged for only random removal - a robust discussion was needed. I won. When the scanner consumed my needlessly removed belt, a second discussion was needed. I won again. I was able to convince the supervisor that there is at least as much attitude on the uniformed side of the fence as on mine but they think they can get away with it. The two supervisors I spoke to today were reasonable and articulate people but the drones are so full of how they are 'keeping us safe' that they think they can get away with being obnoxious. Today's picked on the wrong person. It must be a a quirk of the English language that the words 'uniformed' and 'uninformed' are so similar. It is a shame that security do not have those nice little star badges they get in McDonalds. Admittedly the first star is only for being able to walk upright and the second for being able to construct a sentence but I doubt that many would reach five.

There is so much more to come from the first two days of the holiday but jetlag is numbing my mind so it'll have to wait.

Hindhead, Heathrow and Hunger

Haze fought with sunshine and, for the most part, sunshine won to produce a pleasant day. It took us a while to get going and a while longer to leave the Havant area but now the holiday had begun. Little Chef, Liphook is one of the last outposts of a ragged and volatile chain which has always offered reliable food but with variable service. Today it was interesting to compare it with some of our probable US destinations in the next two weeks. America almost always offers good if rather stereotyped and rehearsed service. In the UK we too have reached a state where service is mostly pleasant and, on occasion, sincerely so. Where we do not compete is on price and portion size but this, perhaps surprisingly, is only half of a bad thing. Prices are scary and that is inevitable with the government gobbling 20% VAT from every plate for no effort. This, in conjunction with sometimes modest portions, can create an impression of poor value but there is an upside. A typical eating place in, say, Palm Springs, will offer portions of a size so ridiculously large (a bit like many Americans, in fact) that waste is inevitable. A meal is enjoyed less because to order two courses is a risk and to order three, futile gluttony. While there are people on this planet who starve or are undernourished, food waste is a sin and all those associated with it should be ashamed.

There is nothing like seeing something for yourself, so I seized the opportunity today to clarify in my own mind mystifying media reports from earlier in the week when the Miss James bridge segment of the A3/Hindhead Tunnel project opened. Based on what I had seen previously, I doubted the descriptions of dirt and plantings across the bridge. Today, I came, I saw and I concurred. My inevitable photographs are on Flickr.

Neither of us wanted to dabble in London before heading for the familiar Heathrow Renaissance. I left Greg in our rather ordinary room and went into the central area to photograph without any real theme. I was pleased with the results. Heathrow can now compete with JFK and to a lesser extent LAX for its tiresomely endless redevelopment which turns almost all of it into an incoherent and cluttered mess. Precisely the problem of such loudly trumpeted investment - which may well be ready for the Rio Olympics but certainly not those in London - is that the aesthetics of the new can never be enjoyed in the chaos of the journey to the next. Heathrow must be one of the largest sponsors of the UK construction industry and pours more concrete than all the mafia families of the US combined. There was, in fact, one exception to my exasperated observations. The outside of Terminal 3 departures is now splendidly attractive partly because the milling traffic does not come right up to the old curb line now mercifully lost in a much extended frontage.

The implacable march of progress will (I believe) lead in turn to the demolition of the iconic control tower building, best known for being my workplace from 1983 to 1991. I photographed that today and perhaps shall not have another opportunity. My photography may not be brilliant but it is determined and I walked  a long way today to photograph the Emirates  A380 model at the Heathrow entrance having previously done so only from above.

In the evening we shunned the hotel restaurant on grounds of expense but, ironically, ended up at the Sipson Tandoori, not our original intent and not cheap, although the food is good. When we went out we encountered nightmare traffic and, in a notably Asian area, I felt that some sub-continent driving styles had impinged upon our roads. I fancied pizza but the Hayes Pizza Hut was hopelessly busy and a long drive brought us back to the once favoured haunt of LATCC diners. Our car is at 0655 and we have familiar seats on our LAX flight. My next post will be from BST -8.

Haze

As the haze of back pain receded, the inevitable haze of protracted high pressure made photography difficult but did not otherwise detract from a beautiful day. The BBC's forecast 'white cloud' has often given us so much more and there was distinct sunshine today. In a second day of self-liberation and in deference to my lumbar fragility, I did not carry my bag upstairs at work. Yesterday I carried only Amateur Photographer and today, nothing except a happy smile. The smile broadened when Blue Watch were extremely generous with my departure time. It did feel good and I stopped a couple of times on my short journey home to take some photographs. One subject was planned, the others not. I hope that the next two weeks will fully exercise my SD cards.

With BST arriving overnight, we have one hour less to wait before the childish glee of BA online check-in. My only concern about a 0955 flight (intentionally chosen) is what the meal will be - served at a typical time after take-off, it will surely be neither breakfast nor lunch. I intend to arrive in Los Angeles awake and fresh. We shall be staying overnight and I hope to take photographs around LAX without being arrested or shot. I am certain we shall have a wonderful time but, in characteristic fashion, I am already looking forward to some of our UK commitments in April and even to our Norwegian cruise. I do not, in fact , plan much frenetic activity on this vacation but followers might want to dip in from time to time to read of sunshine, sculpture, San Diego's trolleys and how I choose between Sea World and Miramar or simply do both. I also plan to return to Borrego Springs but this time without a cactus encounter. Look out for comment and news from BST -8.


As we leave for Heathrow, our census form (and Mum's) will go in the post. My thoughts on the stated intention to criminalise non-compliance are clearly expounded on Facebook. I think our justice system is under enough stress already without contemplating prosecutions of those who demur at the futile decennial prying, the purpose and value of which have long since been outdated by the internet and the routine, insidious data gathering that goes on everywhere and all the time.

Today in the Parliament of my Mind

If there is one thing in common with previous conflicts of both dubious legality and morality is the unspoken and publicly denied sub-plot of regime change. It is hard to imagine any apologist for Gadaffi outside his precarious Tripoli stronghold but external intervention in the affairs of any sovereign state is always uncomfortable. Where Saddam was an apparent psychopath but icily sane, Gadaffi appears to actually be substantially deranged. Nevertheless, in Zimbabwe where a leader treads a fuzzy line between these two, no cruise missiles have yet landed. Perhaps oil is simply more valuable than tobacco although both industries have a great deal of scary cynicism in common. Peripheral though modern day Libya might be to the values of the main protagonists of the Arab League, I wonder whether offended Islamists might even now be planning their protests in the cities of the west. I don't think I'll rush to buy an Oyster Card.

Far away from Benghazi and Fukushima, a pleasant spring crept across Britain and is, apparently, here for a few days. I hope Palm Springs can compete. At work, to turn to my humble life, I regained my confidence and it remained mercifully undiluted by complacency. My recent setback has brought some sort of catharsis, an unexpected cleansing of a mildly embittered and conflicted soul. I felt neither antagonistic nor combative and I imagine both colleagues and pilots benefited - if they noticed at all. A body free of excessive stress and enjoying a modified diet needs less rest and I have been bounding - well strolling - through afternoons, even after early starts without my familiar naps. We completed APIS for our Los Angeles trip and booked exciting excursions for our Norwegian cruise. I just hope that God notices I am really far to busy to die yet.

The 54+ years of my life have been punctuated with terrible disasters around the world but who remembers them and their victims when they slip from the front pages and TV headlines? Who remembers Bam or even Aceh province? These are two examples from thousands. In those dark corners of a world which seems so pleasant to us, the bereaved still mourn, the homeless still weep and the hungry still hunger. When, tonight you slip with a loved one, post-takeaway, between your 1000 thread count sheets, please spare a last waking thought for those people.

A Week Before Los Angeles

A sticky seatbelt, a broken tap and strange behaviour from AOL were features of the first part of our weekend. My Saturday attendance for TRUCE was quite enjoyable and much enhanced by the contributions of four pilots. The emergency scenarios were creative especially coming from a colleague who had only recently returned from South Africa where, a few days ago, he completed a gruelling cycle race in a highly commendable time. I think he must have cheddar or wine in his genes as he is actually getting better with age whereas I am, more like a Japanese power station, just slowly decaying.

The BBC weather forecast, if unreliable, has at least become pessimistic so that, often, the day is much nicer than predicted. Lately, the rather restrained 'white cloud' has, in fact, meant quite a lot of sunshine. Thus it was today; actually rather cold at times but cheeringly bright and an encouraging background to our near-impromptu itinerary. I felt I wanted to do something on this last day off before we travel to Heathrow and then Los Angeles. At the same time I did not feel that a long drive before an early morning was a very good idea. In fact, Greg did all the driving uncomplainingly and very well for a West Sussex circular I had devised from a brief study of the atlas. I wanted to see any traces of a (railway) line which used to run from Chichester to Lavant, well within my lifetime but nevertheless a long time ago. A remnant itself of a former passenger line, it carried only aggregates traffic in my time and that now moves to and from a location just west of Chichester station. As we traced what is now Centurion Way, a pedestrian and cycle path, we had our first insight into the considerable beauty with which West Sussex competes with nearby Hampshire. North towards Midhurst and east of that route it just gets better. We stopped at the Weald & Downland Open Air Museum at Singleton. I was impressed and captivated. A minimum visit time of three hours is suggested but I doubt even that would do the site justice. For the photographer the possibilities are endless; the historian would simply drown in information. The best thing, I think, is to walk and photograph and try to absorb some of the information provided. I am not sure that my pictures will all be processed before we leave for California. They will appear in due course on Flickr with highlights on Facebook.

The fascination of the exhibits distracted from the physical effort of a long walk within 50 acres. It had its ups and downs and, although it was not Steve's cycle race, it was more exercise than I usually do in a week. I suddenly felt both physically and creatively exhausted. My legs or some part of me protested whilst my mind raced ahead to how I would group and classify the photographs I had taken. Predictably, there would be little point in going on to Petworth so we continued towards Midhurst where a brief foray into Station Road revealed no trace of another line long gone. Bridge work on the A3(M) south of Horndean protracted Greg's much appreciated labours still further but, with one stop for Tesco fuel, we were home to work with our respective cameras. In my case I would do nothing which would hinder a 4.30 start (tomorrow morning) and I would slip into a comfortable mental gear to cruise towards next Sunday's journey to Heathrow and the following day's familiar westbound flight to LAX.

Greg bought me a beautiful bronze hare which deserves a good place to be displayed. Thank you, darling.

How The Days Pass

The inevitable mundanity of many days means that this blog will see repetition of themes which will become familiar to my readers. I am unapologetic. Such is the fabric of a life, the anatomy of an individual. These are the things by which we are identified. The sting of my own stupidity diminished but was embarassingly revived when I had to investigate a similar incident. My supervisory role and safety accountabilities can place me in the necessary but ironic role of expounding wisdom on a subject with which I am all too familiar. The upside of this mildly Kafka-esque scenario is that lessons are learned and safety, already maintained at very high levels, is further enhanced. At a more personal level I felt equally stupid yesterday to arrive at work and stop admiring myself long enough to realise that I was wearing changed suit trousers but the previous day's jacket. I felt like a Gok Wan nightmare and, in spite of having a particularly invigorating day at work, could not wait to get home to peel off my mismatched skin and avoid further (mostly imagined) stares. The previous day had been far more stressful as poor weather around the south gave rise to countless diversions. My fat, untoned body got a lot of exercise running round the Ops Room playing my part in sorting it all out. I have to say I later replaced the calories pretty effectively.

Whilst the temperatures slumped from surprisingly warm to rather chilly, the weather has been mostly quite nice. For some reason, mind and body have been able to survive with fewer afternoon naps and I have been driven to more and more photography. Driven literally, as Greg, with seemingly limitless patience, manages the car while I flit in and out of or sometimes linger at, occasionally awkward locations. With fuel costs soaring the most attractive of these need to be the nearest and that, fortunately, is the case with Eastleigh. At that minor railway mecca, a place much diminished but still full of clandestine vibrancy, I can regress to a lost teenage when my horizons went no further than, say, Salisbury. To my considerable gratification there is actually a notice displayed at the station  welcoming rail enthusiasts and outlining a few simple and reasonable requests. The works contain all sorts of treasures, many accessible only with a modern lens and then sometimes too elusive. Yesterday, refurbished D6515 manoeuvred provocatively out of range but there was still food for an incredibly capable modern compact in determined hands. There had been a less welcoming experience at the Chandlers Ford site of a recent (presumed) arson attack on buses. I suppose the victims were bound to be a bit reticent but I only wanted to know where the damaged vehicles and some vintage companions had moved to. I always find the phrase 'you could be anybody' faintly ridiculous perhaps because I am nobody.

Rain today was disappointingly persistent and a forecast clearance came too late to be useful. I had been disproportionately excited (or at least interested) to see that Stagecoach 33380 seems to have given way as Tesco (Havant) free bus to an Emsworth & District Dart. Beyond that, a rainy drive took me to consider Portchester station as a location for tomorrow's planned photography of 34067 'Tangmere' when it hauls a Three Bridges-Bristol railtour - assuming it gets from Southall to Three Bridges in the first place. It is difficult to think of much except Los Angeles at the moment but first there is TRUCE, an unavoidable imposition on my time but one which is easily turned into an enjoyable social occasion with some very likeable colleagues. Perhaps I shall take some cakes but keep my chilli coated peanuts to myself.......

Chinese Restaurants and Coping With Age

This is a difficult entry to write made easier by a sleep inspired revival of optimism. I usually refrain from direct comments about work, mindful of my employer's caution about the nature of social networking. I do not intend to stray far from my self-imposed rule but things have been difficult for me for a week following a lapse of concentration. The event and its consequences made me feel old, stupid and humiliated. None of these feelings, I should emphasise, was in any way reinforced by my colleagues. They instead have been endlessly supportive whilst noting that I myself increasingly recognise my own limitations. A period of supervision through a process which reflects well on my employer, was inevitably painful again through no fault of employer or immediate colleagues but rather because of the self-examination it invokes. It is behind me now and a range of options lie ahead. I shall return tomorrow to a role I love and colleagues I love more. I don't want to be remembered for ineptitude and failure and a course change may be necessary before the first starting gun is fired in Stratford. As in showbusiness, one is most remembered for ones last performance.

Such has been the intensity of my photography that I have been making much more use of my time off between shifts and resting less at times when I should be active. I am very grateful to Greg for driving me around to help me achieve my objectives. These remain 40,000 views on Flickr (approaching) and 5,000 Flickr posts (achievable well before year end). Many of my contributions are to groups I could not have imagined 18 months ago. I don't think I would ever have been motivated to photograph Chinese Restaurants and Takeaways but now I am acutely aware of the extraordinary proliferation of such establishments even in South Hampshire. Yesterday, I photographed more than I even realised at the time. As photogaphers or pedestrians, we should look up more. Doing just that also yesterday, led me to the image now at the head of this blog. I was thrilled too to see the arrival at Portsmouth of HMS Bulwark only 24 hours after seeing and photographing her at Marchwood. For a while now, I have been inspired by the contents of one book to move on to another and to explore further subjects or concepts raised by them. Now I am equally inspired by the interactions between photostreams in Flickr through my contacts. I am grateful to them for helping me with usability tips. Thorough captioning, adding text and tags increases my pleasure. My relationship with the internet though remains fragile. Computers and their mysteries frighten me. Whilst I want some sort of internet fame through my photographs, I am astonished and, occasionally, a little disturbed by where they end up. With my images protected from all but the computer super-literate, it is usually a link that travels around but I was taken aback to find my pictures of Devon and Cornwall police vehicles on a Newquay tourism/comedy club page. The number of views of some images is gratifying but also baffling.

It is perhaps disturbing too that I can be so pre-occupied with matters so inconsequential while Japan recovers from unexpected horror. It is a reflection on their preparedness and resilience that relatively few people died although I do not in any way diminish the deaths which did occur. It is easy to understand how to prepare for earthquakes but impossible to imagine how any nation could ever combat tsunami. If ever there was an irresistible force of nature it is the 10m wave bearing tens of millions of tons of water. If I were religious I would pray for Japan; as it is I'll just try to think of them.

In just over two weeks we shall fly to Los Angeles. For me it is always an exciting place to arrive and leave. It is my gateway to another life, a life lived in two week stretches. A life of loving Americans for their lifestyle and hating them for their ignorance and banality. A life of sunshine and palms lived by a mind and  body which misses rain after two weeks. This vacation will be a watershed. Whatever we think of the new management of Inndulge we shall take the opportunity to move back to the east coast in 2012. That assumes we shall be able to afford the fares; in fact it assumes we shall be able to afford to drive to the airport.

Good night and thank you Matt and David xx

A Precious Day With Greg

With March slipping by and my days off assassinated by extra commitments, a genuine day off with sunshine and my boyfriend was to be savoured. Frost could be shrugged off as the sunshine took dominance. I went to see Mum and offered reassurance about our availability before our eagerly awaited flight to Los Angeles. It might be a bit poignant with a return to the east coast planned for future trips. I should explain to Matt and Ross that that means Fort Lauderdale and not Skegness. Dental appointments went well and we left with teeth gleaming as much as is possible in the over 50s without whitening. An NHS dentist is as valuable as a sunny day in one of the gloomiest recorded winters. I wanted some more photographs printed and went to Jessops, Fareham where vouchers from previous purchases paid the bill. Lunch at Cafe Tusk was reliably good and 'Bus and Coach Week' aided digestion.

Leaving the cramped but familiar multi-storey in Fareham I did not feel inclined to waste the continuing good weather but had no particular itinerary in mind. In the event we went to Botley and Bishops Waltham and I got good but unplanned photographs. The English Heritage managed Bishops Waltham Abbey is one of countless enthralling properties I love to visit. I tried a little contre-jour (Google).

My initial reaction to REMs 'Collapse Into Now' was one of disappointment after the ecstatic video preview I reported a while ago. A first listen is not usually enough to crystallise ones opinions but I was left thinking 'how is any one of these songs different'?

When I tried to create some links in Flickr between photographs I met with mixed results and was left puzzled. Setting aside my usual internet paranoia I put it down to a temporary hiccup in the application as attempts to date have been successful.  The evening ended more pleasantly with an excellent soup. You have no doubt noticed the ever expanding market in brand and supermarket brand offerings in this field. Already established in this field, New Covent Garden tetrapaks are widely known. Now they offer tubs with "The Dining Room" branding. Tonight's Slow Cooked Pork with Cannellini Beans was faultless and beautifully flavoured. If you like what I call 'meal' soups, this line is well worth looking out for.

Zombie

I am in that space between night shifts and the recovery from them. The recovery from them will be hindered by commitments including extra meetings. By the time I reach Palm Springs on March 29th I'll be capable only of observing the palms from a supine position and dribbling.

Common Sense and Honesty Please

It is time for less reactive hysteria in respect of the events unfolding in Libya and the wider Arab world. I can not see any reason why the Director of the LSE should resign. For many years it has suited everyone from individuals via corporations to governments to indulge in commercial, educational and social intercourse with a regime we ostensibly find distasteful. There is no bigger example than the post-Lockerbie rapprochement made predictably if uncomfortably in deference to wider interests and presumably on the assumption that, 20 years on, the relatives of the lost would hurt less.

Put simply, everybody has been at it including Tony Blair whose judgement might be characterised if necessary by the single example of Gulf II and WMD. I find it, therefore, entirely unremarkable that  a key educational establishment should have been offering tutorage to a clique with whom they might not have cared to share drinks at The Athenaeum.

The spectacle of mass flagellation of self or others whilst bathed in the bright light of the nova death of expediency is at least unseemly and certainly avoidable were our moral compasses not so frequently set by commercially driven co-ordinates.

Long After Day 2

My regular readers might have noticed that 'Kent & Sussex Weekend - Day 1' was not immediately followed by the 'Day 2' you might have expected. We got back from our Sunday travels with more photographs than I could quickly process and there were many other things to keep me busy too. Thus passed Sunday evening, Monday and most of Tuesday. At the weekend we had completed a surprisingly coherent itinerary on which there was so much to see that compromises had to be made. Thus no emergency vehicles and only one Chinese restaurant featured in my day's work. Bright weather accompanied an early departure from Maidstone. Sutton Valence castle eluded me apparently because of discontinuous or poorly placed signage and we stopped first at Headcorn airfield. I have made a similar visit before and enjoyed myself on both occasions. The ground was waterlogged but it had not stopped operations in key areas and I stayed to watch the first jump of the day from G-OHPC which I more usually see on radar. At Tenterden, the Kent and East Sussex Railway had a running day but, unfortunately, it was a Thomas day. I steered well clear of the shoals of children and the £12.50 entrance fee which would have made for expensive photography on a day when I had no opportunity to travel and satisfied myself with lineside photography. I do not care for faces on locomotives but, even with such an adornment, the noisy arrival of 1638 'Duck' with a mixed goods was exciting. Sissinghurst offered an interesting Penny Farthing sculpture cum installation and we moved on to East Grinstead. The Spa Valley Railway was closed but the Smith & Western hotel is a reminder of the once routine external opulence of many station buildings.

The main objective of the day was the Bluebell Railway on which we visited Horsted Keynes and Sheffield Park stations. I enjoyed both very much. Only as we prepared to leave the southerly station did it start to spit with rain and on the way home it rained heavily. The future demands another similar circuit with different stops perhaps including castles and gardens. This weekend had taken us to four heritage railways so perhaps something more balanced towards Greg is called for.

Monday brought more bad weather and a shopping trip for Mum. There were few photographic opportunities but I mentally catalogued some more Chinese restaurants. The evening brought some unexpected tray related memories which I posted, with photographs, on Facebook and Flickr. The prospect of five days out of six as Watch Supervisor gave rise to some apprehension as I have less confidence in my ability than might sometimes appear to be the case. Tuesday, the first of the six, brought many and diverse tasks and plenty of decision making. There appeared to be little time between breakfast and lunch and then, almost seamlessly, I was in Sainsburys with Greg to shop and, in particular, to buy our preferred mineral water. Nights would not be the same without a glass by the bed and in fact, as I write, I am imagining that scene as I hope to get some decent sleep.