26 November 2014 (Wednesday) - Before the Night Shift

I felt something in the night I’ve not felt for ages (oo-er!) A fidgeting at the end of the bed. My dog had come upstairs and jumped on the bed. I know he shouldn’t, but I was so pleased that he felt well enough to do so that I left him there. He slowly worked his way up the bed, and I then dozed with my hand on his back for the rest of the night.

After brekkie I took “Furry Face TM “ for a walk. It was rather wet; too wet for the park (I thought) so we went out to Hythe Road and back via the Willesborough railway crossing. It’s one of what used to be our standard walks and, judging by my dog’s recovery, it will be again. We walked up past the station avoiding push bikes vooming in all directions. What is it with bike riders? Ashford has a very good cycle path network, and still cyclists either think they are cars and ride in the middle of the carriageway at walking speed, or fly down pavements expecting pedestrians to scatter in their wake.

As I walked past the secondary school I had a minor altercation with an officious teacher. This chap was brandishing a clip-board and was lording it over a small group of disinterested-looking children. As we walked past he stopped me, looked at his clip-board, looked at me and rudely asked “and you are…?” I replied “walking my dog” and kept going.
We carried on round to Frog’s Island where there was a minor flood, and just as we were coming past Asda I met an ex-cub’s mother. She seemed rather distraught. She was upset about one of the horses in a nearby field which had been tied to a fence. Apparently  the poor thing couldn’t move more than a few inches; he couldn’t even lower his head to get to the grass. Ex-cub’s mother was having a really good rant about how cruel some people are, and how she had a jolly good mind to phone someone. I let her rant for a few moments before I realised that she was talking to me as though I was still the leader of her son’s cub group. In her mind I was a person of authority. She was clearly expecting me to go sort the problem. So I assured her I’d take a look. Her face lit up at that suggestion, and me and Fudge went round to see the horses.
Sure enough one of the ponies was on his own by the fence, and was pulling against a fence post. But far from having been deliberately tethered, the silly beast had managed to get his bridle tangled in the fence. It took seconds for me to release him, and he galloped off to a nearby manger which was full of hay.
The horse set about scoffing hungrily, and feeling that I’d done my good deed for the day I came home.

I gave “Furry Face TM “ his brekkie, booked a service for my car (more expense!) then I set about more Coursera course work. Today’s lectures were on the effect of mass extinction events on biodiversity. I thought I knew quite a bit about the topic, but I learned loads. And I got eighty per cent in the test too.
(And there are those who say I’m little more than a bald piss artist!)

I checked my emails… and got the hump. Two geocaches had gone live during the week; both of which are on my way to work (admittedly on a rather circuitous route). Neither had been found. I had planned to get at least one FTF on my way to work this evening. Both had been found this morning. Oh well…

I watched another episode of “Detectorists” over lunch, blew my saxophone, set the washing machine going, then tried to get a little sleep. I managed to sleep for three hours, but did have cold feet. Once I woke I spent a while trying to find my hot water bottle (for next time). I couldn’t find it, but I did find eight quid in the pockets of some trousers I haven’t worn for ages. Result!

I scoffed a bit of tea, and now I’m off to the night shift. I’ll see if I can’t get a hot water bottle in Morrisons…

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