Yearly Archives: 2006

Fast Friday
“Are you travelling on anywhere after Dublin, Mr Foxx?” the stoney faced policeman asked without looking up from the picture page of my passport.

It was Friday morning and I’d just made it through the metal detectors without having to remove my boots. Either I looked too relieved at not having to take them off and march back through in my socks, or maybe I just have one of those faces. Whatever the reason, the cynic in me suspected he was stopping me more to flex his authority muscle than he was to ensure the safety of society at the other end of my journey.

“No, I’m just going to Dublin for a couple of nights out.” I answered, immediately annoyed at myself for giving him more than the one word answer his passive–aggressive demeanour deserved. It was difficult to contain my enthusiasm for the fun that lay ahead of me, but I maintained a poker face with a hint of a smile.

“Okay, thankyou.” Officer Jobsworth said, handing my passport back with a slow nod and a wry smile that probably meant I’ll be watching you. I kept eye contact for as long as my bottle would hold and returned the nod and wry smile. He looked away first, feigning disinterest.

“Thank you.” I said, and went on my way with a cheesy grin. Oh yes – I was already on fire and I hadn’t even gotten on the plane yet.

Once through the gate and out on the apron I was relieved to see that it wasn’t a propellor engined plane that I’d presumed it to be. Instead, a new-ish looking 737 with fancy upturned wing tips sat poised for the short hop to Dublin. Nice. If I ever end up in a plane crash I want to go down in a blaze of modern technology, knowing that if all that knowhow couldn’t keep me in the sky it was probably my time anyway!

The flight itself seemed to be over really quickly – I had my PSP with me and barely got in a couple of rounds of Worms before I had to turn it off for landing. I always wonder why they make you turn things like that off upon landing and take-off. Surely it’s only going to distract me from the horror of something going wrong and that’s a good thing.

Before the weekend it had been ages since we made the trip up the M62 to see Andy and Rachel in York. Fortunately a window in our busy schedules(!) gave us the combination of free weekend and good weather that we’d been holding out for and it made for yet another good visit.

Straight after we arrived on Saturday afternoon (via Leeds because I took a wrong turn) we made the short walk to the local pub and its beer garden. Rachel, who is doing a few shifts at the pub before she starts her new job, was working there up until five, which was a bit of a shame because she was missing out on a lovely, sunny afternoon. Still, at least she serves a good pint – complete with comedy patterns in your Guinness if you ask nicely. ;o)

Richard had joined us at the picnic table by the time Rachel finished her shift and, despite some noisy kids nearby, it was good to be outdoors enjoying the nice weather and having a good laugh. Elisha had been reasonably well behaved too, observing the other kids running around and being her inquizative self.

During the course of the afternoon Andy had been texting away on his phone by way of inviting us all to a barbeque at Helen and Aaron’s place. With that ball rolling we left the beer garden, headed back to Andy and Rachel’s place to pick up a few things, then made our way to Helen’s place for the promised feast.

Once there we settled in to a sunny spot at the back of the garden, while Elisha got to meet Helen’s hyperactive granddaughter, Ella, and enjoy some interaction with another small person. Ella was quite entertaining, actually, and hard work too – it’s both funny and scarey to think that Elisha will be running around like her in a couple of years.

By the time the barbeque was fired up the sun was setting and it had gotten a bit chilly, so the tail end of the evening involved either standing by the barbeque or inside the house to keep warm. The food was good when it arrived, though – chilli sauce on cheeseburgers is hard to beat!