This week I was back up in Glasgow (avoiding the decoration work being done at home) working my socks off to get back up to speed with the project I’m co-managing. There is so much to do its GO GO GO all day especially when you’ve been used to relaxing 12 hours a day, its full on.
I have to admit a cock up, I under ordered some parts which meant I had to spend half a day tracking down, driving to collect, and then delivering to site some parts to keep the project moving. Just In Time Delivery, is a great concept until something goes wrong and then its a nightmare. The UK as a whole has been facing shortages across the building sector due to delayed shipments and manufacturing lag to restart normal business following the Covid-19 shut-downs. While it may have a cost to hold stock, when disaster hits, some level of stock gives you a buffer to carry on trading or building or running the business while plans are made.
In amongst the normal butt load of work chasing up suppliers and contractors for quotes and items of work, I’ve been organising a Race Event for my Tiny Whoop Club – Birmingham Tiny Whoopers.
The BIRD ( Birmingham International Race Day ) event is something I’ve hosted once before at Kongs bar in central Birmingham. Basically it’s a race event to bring together a load of Tiny Whoop racers from all over the UK & Europe. We set up a track in a really cool bar, somewhere new and exciting, and then race around our brightly lit LED gates and lights, have a few beers, some food and generally a really good time.
Running around doing all this meant I didn’t even have a chance to get my hair cut and was thoroughly distracted on my train home getting the last bits of work done. So much so that I stayed on a train I should have gotten off and breezed right past Manchester and ended up in Crewe. Quickly grabbing all my stuff I jumped off the train. I needed to get to Buxton so had to return most of the way to Manchester, to pick up the train I should have gotten. Luckily that went to plan and I was on the train till the end of the line so I carried on getting those last bits of work out the door.
Pulling up in Buxton happened faster than I expected and in my haste to see Aimi and the dogs again, I bunged my laptop back in my bag and took off. It was only when we had driven all the way back to the cottage and I was going thru my usual evening routine, I realised I left my phone on the train. It had been propped up against the window to get a good network signal and I just blanked and left it behind. It must have watched me forgetfully abandon it as the train pulled off into the night…
The morning came and with the drive out of the valley, came some signal to Aimi’s phone. A missed call and voicemail was waiting from a station worker at Manchester Piccadilly. They had found my phone!
I’m not very attached to my belongings, and while I may take after my dad with a garage full of (useful) junk, I like to think of myself as fairly minimalist. But losing my phone is a nightmare. Not because I have any real attachment to the device, its just a phone. And I’m not even worried about losing any work because its all backed up to Google. But we have only just come back from Mexico where I proposed to Aimi. There are irretrievable photos on there that I was really upset about losing. Not loads of them, but enough that I was really bummed out in addition to feeling frustrated at my own scatty-minded-ness.
Next morning, we drove into Oakamoor and I was feeling a lot more optimistic. Aimi dropped me off with the dogs and I went up to see the house and renovations progress. She had warned me, but I hadn’t believed her till I saw it. Our room is without a doubt, “baby-girl-pink”…. NO this is not another life announcement. This is the realisation that we’ve asked our builder to paint our freshly plastered bedroom walls a sickeningly sweet bubblegum pink…..
I’m hoping that with a grey carpet, the large wardrobes and furniture and a few picture frames, not so much will be on show and it will be tolerable. If not, it looks like I have some painting in my future….
After a short walk (because Haku is getting slower and older than ever) with Laura and Kai and cup of tea, I’m now on my way back up to Manchester to collect my phone. Someone had handed it in to a guard and left it at reception for me so hopefully we shall be reunited again shortly. Not how I planned to spend my Saturday, but a whole lot better than having to sort out a new phone.