Shakespeare's Sister

Well, since last Friday's post, no doubt you are still reeling by the news as to the identity of Archie's killer in EastEnders - No? You mean its not the most important event of the year so far. Perhaps you were more upset to learn that joe's body was found in the lake in Coronation Street?

Its been an eventful week in the life of yours truly.

My not so little boy spared me 30 hours of his life to pay a flying visit to London from Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon. he had to rush off home early on Sunday though as his paramour was cooking tea for him. I remeber the days he used to send 48 hours with me - now of course as he gets older, he can't spare the time for his old man! Actually that's unfair isn't it Tom? He couldn't come down Friday night as he was travelling back from his Great Grandmother's funeral and his leaving earlier on Sunday afternoon was helpful to me, so I could dash over to Crawley to see Michelle. Isn't that sweet, father and son glad to get away from each other to see their respective ladies!

We spent Saturday morning at Lee Valley Youth Cycling Club (www.lvycc.co.uk) where Tom helped out with the coaching whilst I did my bit as Child Welfare Officer and sorted out the bike hire there. Its good to see so many parents now volunteering their services to help with the bike hire, signing on or even coaching. For the first time this year, I was able to cycle to the cycling club and back again.

After getting home from the club, Tom and I chose to go down the pub to watch the Mackems (S*nd@rland) lose to Arsenal on the dodgy foreign satellite feed. Its always a joy to watch them Mackems lose, except when Arsenal make it as boring as that game. Tom & I left the pub with around 15 minutes of the game left as surfing the net at home seemed to be more enjoyable.

We walked home on a clear winter's evening, but within 5 minutes of getting in the house, it started to snow a blizzard! Quite where it came from I have no idea. Ok, I do, I did the weather cycle in geography at school (I prefer the bi-cycle though), but you know what I mean.

Saturday night- a night down the pub with my lad? No, we went yellow label shopping at the supermarkets. (Michelle, that means buying the reduced price goods to freeze them and save money!) I did buy a crate of wife beater for Tom and I to drink at home. However when we got home he told me he didn't want any beer! I disown him - he can't be mine!

Sunday morning brought an early start, out of the house on our bikes in the pouring rain by 0800 to meet up with Drew and Sam for a ride into Central London. The weather was so bad, that for the first time I have ever seen, there was not a soul a Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park on a Sunday morning! Wee only did one lap of Hyde Park, before retiring to Bar Italia in soho for coffee/tea etc. Its the only cafe I know that happily allows you to wheel your bikes into the back of the shop to keep them safe/ dry. I do think 4 bikes is taking the mickey a bit. We'll not have to have club trips there in the summer as that would be over the top if 20+ cyclists try to bring bikes into the cafe. I do recommend Bar Italia in Frith Street for its coffee, food and the friendliness of thee staff. Its better than Starbucks or Costa Coffee, but that's not saying much is it?

The weather was so foul that we rode the shortest way back home. Still that route takes us through the theatre land, past the Old Bailey, The London Museum, Brick Lane etc. A ride around London on a Sunday morning is a great sightseeing trip. We had earlier pased the Tower of London, The London Eye, London Bridge, Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament, ridden down the Mall and past Buckingham Palace.

Monday morning brought me a morning at home waiting for the VIGIN MEDIA broadband engineer to arrive for his appointment to fix my broadband. This had been booked the preceeding Wednesday. I left Crawley before 0600 to ensure I was home before 0800 as the appointment was between 0800 and 1200. The fault had been diagnosed the previous Wednesday as a fault with the modem, not the line.

By 1200 there was no sign of the engineer, so I telephoned Virgin who said they had cancelled the appointment the previous Thursday but had not phoned me, "because of the time". Given that phones work 24/7 or they could have sent an email or snail mail, they could not explain why they had not told me of the cancellation.

Why had they cancelled the appointment? Apparently there had been a power outage in the Area and this usually fixes line faults. Given mine had been diagnosed as not a line fault but a modem fault the explanation was a waste of breath. Virgin's solution to this problem? Apparently I have to take another day off work incase they can be bothered to call out again. After much arguiong, they are allegedly coming out this Saturday now between 0800 and 0900 as I toild them I won't be in after this time (I'll be at cycling club!). I'm not holding my breath waiting for them, especially as I managed to get some broadband access, by taking a Stanley knife to the cable and the modem and making a Heath Robinson type repair using sticky tape (Are you watching Valerie Singleton?).

So, I went into work late on Monday afternoon, as I got off the train, I left my mobile phone on the tube! Grrr wouldn't have happened if I had cycled in. " hours were sppent trying to find if phone was found on tube (Thanks for your efforts LU staff at St James' Park :-) ). Then to phone shop to cancel phone. Replacement phone was said to be £500, but remaining cost of contract was only £200. So I agreed to pay up contract, but then T- mobile say that I can't start a new contract as that would mean transferring the number to the same network and that is not possible, so to keep the number I have had to go to a different network. Goodbye T-mobile, hello Vodafone.

Tuesday and Wednesday were uneventful by comparison, with a couple of wet days cycling to/ from work.

Now, what's the title of this thread got to do with this post or anything I hear you ask? Well, on Saturday, I'm being treated to go and see 12th Night by the RSC in London. I am hoping its by the Royal Shakespeare Company and not the Reduced Shakespeare Company. Thanks for the tickets Michelle, should be a good night!

Thanks to those who have recently sponsored me. If you haven't done so yet, then why not?