One of those days.........

Have you ever had one of those days? One, which seems endless, yet you achieve sod all!

Well, that's precisely my day today.

It started, sorry failed to start, with me lazily staying in bed. I mean it was just pure laziness. Yesterday, thank goodness, I commuted to and from work, probably only the 6th, or at most, the 7th time I've managed to do so, in the last 2 months, because of my morbid fear of ice. Obviously, what fitness I had attained up until just before Christmas, had disappated, delapidated or downright shrivelled, because it was very hard work cycling back home up the valley.

As a result Iwas tired this morning, and my legs were stiff. The plan, last night, was to get back into the habit of a loop down and back up the valley before breakfast, on my free days, ( my days off shift ), which I was doing at least two or three times a week, through last year. But no, I just lay there thinking, and procrastinating about it, until of course it was just too damned late!

That, sadly, set the tone for the rest of the day.

Elizabeth and I had to go to Swansea to run some errands, Conor our middle son, married and living across the street, called over to ask if he could tag along, he's been painting his bathroom, on a day off from work, and wanted to call at a DIY shop for some items. I wanted to get some parraffin for my shed stove/lamp/heater, I'll have to get a photo of it into the blog, it's the business, and a major part of my plan to lead a solitary life holed up in MY SHED. Trouble is it's full of crap, save for my bikes and gear, of course.

I know I'm digressing now, from "One of those days....". but I have to tell you this. When I became a signaller on the railway, my third post was grade 3 signaller at Abergavenny signalbox. It was, and still is, what I like to call a proper signalbox, with a large interlocking frame and approximately 80 odd levers. Using bell codes, telephones, levers connected to signals by a system of wire runs and pulleys out on the trackside, I'd signal trains up to Tram Inn, or down to Little Mill, the boxes either side of Abergavenny. In between trains, especially at night or in winter, I'd be sat smoking my pipe, next to a coal fired pot bellied stove.

Well that is what I wanted it to be, the truth is the pot bellied stoves disappeared, from the majority of boxes with privatisation, and in reality, I was sitting next to an electric fire, and not a very good one. But when I was training to be a signaller, I visited the Crewe railway heritage site, and had a go on the levers etc., The signalbox was fitted with the traditonal pot bellied stove, and we tooke it in turns to keep the coal fire going. Simply great, since that time I've always dreamt of me smoking my pipe next to such a stove.

It's never going to come to fruition though, because I gave up smoking my pipe six years ago.

However, a remnant of that dream is still attainable, a pot bellied stove in my shed. Currently, I have the parraffin stove, in my shed, which, though a poor substitute, is part way to a picture of myself I can see. Me sat in my shed with a mug of tea, kettle on the stove, while studying a something mechanical to do with my bikes.

But first I've got to clear all that crap out of there. Will I have to get another shed first?

Sorry I've got to close now, phonecall from work, asking me to work a dayshift tomorrow. I said yes, and I want to ride in, not drive, so I'd best get to bed, I've got to be up very early, 03.45 to cycle the 20 miles in to start by 05.30. The good news is, I should be home in plenty of time for the Wales versus France rugby game tomorrow evening.

Cheers, I hope I get back to telling you about the rest of "One of those days...."