Monday, 26th June 2023
After yesterday's "excitement" of cycling in the dusk, through a heavily wooded, and therefore quite dark area, Kathleen is not up for cycling to Gary's today.
I decide to renew my acquaintance with Uber, and get a taxi.
I still have the App on my phone, it was last used in 2018!
Payment card details have expired, so, that needs to be updated, then, I find that, for some reason, it will not allow me to arrange a pick-up from the Campsite.
Reason that, perhaps, it is because the Campsite is located on bridle path, signposted "authorised vehicles only", we walk to the end of the lane, to try our luck there.
We do spot a bus stop, but, there is no timetable/destination board displayed, we are surrounded by houses costing £2million plus, so, I doubt they have much need for a bus.
Uber comes good, and, allows me to set a pickup at the junction of two roads, gives me the registration number of the cab, and, an eta to pickup. With tracking which amazon would be proud of, a cab turn up in about 5 minutes.
The smooth and efficient way in which outfits like Amazon and Uber operate often makes me ponder, how would it be if we got rid of the Civil Service/Government and substituted Uber/Amazon?, would everything run smoothly, would my friend Doug have got his driving licence renewal in days, not months, with regular tracking information to tell him when to expect it?, rather than the shambles which is DVLA.
However, successive Government's efforts at outsourcing have only brought us disasters like PFI, and Capita.
I am not a habitual taxi user, so, not familiar with what to expect cost wise, in the event it is £16 for approximately 6 miles, is that reasonable?
Gary is working in his home office.
We get stuck into the fence painting again.
One side finished, then a break for lunch, made by Susana, on her return from the Gym.
After lunch we begin working our way along the longest side. This consists of about 11 panels, Gabriel tells me it is 20 metres, and, I would say he is about right.
Two panels completed, this is slightly more time consuming than the first side, since there are bracing struts to paint too.
The good news is the fence posts are concrete, so, do not require painting.
The tub of paint is running low, and, we don't quite manage to complete another panel, before we run out of paint, so, the job is stopped for want of materials.
We are under orders, from Gary, not Gabriel, that we must leave some fence for Gabriel to paint, since it is one of his chores.
There are 8 or 9 panels remaining to be painted, it looks like that may be Gabriel's some holiday task.
Off to a Greek Restaurant for our evening meal, then, a lift from Gary to the oddly named "Monkey Island Lane", from where we walk the 1.5 miles or so, over the pedestrian/cycle bridge over the Thames, and back to Amerden Caravan Site.
Tuesday, 27th June 2023
Today, is much cooler, only 20C, it would have been a better day for working, painting the fence, but, too late, we have used all of the paint, and worked in the 28c heat!
We were invited to attend Salma's school sports day, and, subsequent picnic, but, instead we are having a day off, relaxing at the campsite.
The only excitement today is a couple of new arrivals, there are five of us here now.
One of the arrivals is quite a large van, and, they have just unloaded a motor scooter, and ridden off on it. Happy memories of our scooter. made me ponder, "should we get another one?".
We have a visit from Gary and Salma, in the evening. I offer Salma my last Malt Loaf Snack, think, she will not like them. Big mistake, Salma likes them and scoffs the lot!
No comments:
Post a Comment