Please Smile At The Weirdo

Today is 'Walk to Work Day', the point of which is to encourage people to walk because generally they don't realise its actually quicker than getting the bus/tube because they don't factor in all the hanging around waiting, queuing, stuck in traffic etc etc.

I'm on the bus myself but then again 15 miles is a bit far to walk to work (suppose they all use that excuse) but I do intend to run the last 5 miles. I don't think the woman getting on in Stapleford and then getting off two stops later realises it's 'Walk to Work Day', but then again looking at her, she looks very unfit, perhaps I'm being unfair and she's working her way up to it.

It starts out as a nice morning but as I disembark from the bus and set off on my run, it starts to get darker and darker. It's not looking promising. I run into a work colleague, not quite literally, thankfully, as he's on his bike and he rides part of the way with me. That's all I need another coach.

As usual I smile at everyone I pass, trying to get them to acknowledge me. They do say that the world always looks better from behind a smile, plus it makes people wonder what you've been up to. Naturally I have little success, some people do smile back, and a select few even exchange a 'good morning' with me. Some just look puzzled as they try and work out if I'm someone they know, others just look the other way, thinking 'weirdo'.

I pass a lovely old lady cycling along the footpath; she always wishes me a good morning. Old people always appreciate a smile, plus they are less likely to take offence and thump you one. I always see her, whatever the time, even though sometimes she's going in the other direction. I get the impression she spends all day just going up and down the footpath.

Five minutes from work it starts to drizzle, thankfully it saves the downpour for later. For the rest of the day the weather seems to alternate between violent rainstorms and glorious sunshine. Somehow I manage to get out to the sandwich van during a dry spell. L says they've had hail in Nottingham. Well it's her own fault because she was really pushing her luck, biking to work after putting the washing out, no wonder it’s stormy.

Just to prove the point for 'Walk to Work Day', the Red Arrow gets stuck in traffic on the A52 because some one has impressively rolled their vehicle on to its roof and demolished a large section of the crash barrier. No serious injuries apparently.

So I get home late and rush off to squash, where I get trounced. I blame my tired legs. As football managers always say the result doesn't tell the full story. Every game was very close; I just didn't win any of them. We retire for a beer in the Globe, which is now our usual. It's quite a nice real ale pub that gets its name from the Globe Cinema which was adjacent to the site but closed in 1972.

Squash opponent exercised, I head home and take Doggo out for his turn. We see L and Daughter on the way, who are just returning from an 'Introduction To Medicine' lecture at the Medical School. Dr Daughter here we come.

Back home we hit the red wine, L more so than me. At one point she's just finishing off her glass when she realises that it's not hers but mine, hers is already empty. Must have been a hard day. I take a port to bed to compensate.