Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
…. they went and held another cycling event today - the time trials. Q: Where were they held? A: On the streets of Glasgow. Q: What did that mean? A: More road closures. Major disruption ….. especially to me.
On the 730am to 530pm shift. First heard about them on the radio on the way in. Not that concerned to be honest. My satnav always sees me right.Then as soon as I walked into the car deport a big multi-colour wall chart. Then the team briefing [pink team today in case you're interested]. More warnings. Was I bothered? Not a bit. "Coped with it before" I thought. "Let the satnav do the work and it'll all be fine. Just make sure that none of the people who get in my car need to get anywhere quickly. Tell them that I'll have to rely on the satnav and we're home and dry". I relaxed. Tell them that they shouldn't expect too much of me and it'll be a doddle.
That sense of calm, tranquillity and inner peace was short-lived. It was quickly shattered by the lady sitting next to me. She came from Glasgow and was clearly shocked by my cavalier approach when I said I'd given up on the Glasgow Route Network and relied 100% on the satnav. "Och nooooo. Ye canna do that today" she said and went on to tell me why not. Basically all the road closures would make the satnav useless. I started to twitch a bit at this news. She went on to say "Never mind. The M74 is your friend" and explained in intricate detail exactly why I should use it and why I was lucky to have a friend like the M74. She was being very kind and very helpful but I'm afraid it was all lost on me. I started to twitch when she started to unfold the horrors that awaited me. And the twitches became more violent the longer she spoke. I was a quivering wreck at the end. She finished with a warm smile "The M74 really will be your friend today. Use it and you can't go wrong". Then she went off to get in her car [and I expect to head straight for the M74].
I'll be honest, I didn't take in all of the detail [no fit state to]. But what she'd said right at the start scared the life out of me ". "YOU-CAN'T-USE-THE-SATNAV-TODAY".
But she'd offered a straw in a throwaway remark and boy was I going to cling onto it. ""The M8 to the airport won't be affected". I made up my mind there and then that trips to the airport would be the only ones that I'd do. And I'd be at the back of the queue for those if I had my way. So before long the pink team were sent to wait at the Hilton Hotel and then moved to the Marriott next door. My first move was to have a word with the traffic marshals at both to say that I could only do the airport. That, together with a two-hour lunch break and another two hours spent hiding in the boot meant I only had to do three trips. All went OK so RESULT as far as I'm concerned. Nobody said anything [to my face at least] and I'm a bit surprised I got away with it.
And a sign that the Games are getting near the end now. When the pink team cars were called back to the depot this afternoon, Control added "And finally please don't fill up your tanks with diesel as you normally would. We're going to start handing some cars back soon and we'd like the tanks to be nearly empty". And it's getting near the end for me too. Only another three shifts. Back tomorrow. And yes Ronnie, the Botswana people got their chips
- comments
Ronnie We watched the cycling taking place in torrents of rain. Glasgow must be the only wet place in Europe at the moment. Enjoy your last few days. If you hide in the boot again, take a straw with you to breathe through. PS I got the sum wrong just to see what happened, and I got a detention.
Michael Ronnie was wrong. Manchester can always be relied upon to compete on wetness with anywhere on earth. Not just compete but win hands down - I'm sick of the rain!