I didn’t give my bike credit for having more than one fault. Indeed, I assumed that there was one fault that was causing the problems. That it could be an amalgamation of several problems – that didn’t occur (don’t worry, this isn’t all bikey). Anyway, I decided to go visit freinds in Brighton yesterday; a plan I’d had for a while… I decided, despite my bike’s limited top speed (60mph) it’d do for riding down there, mostly because it would be vastly cheaper in petrol terms. My eyes were already incredibly sore, and have been for the last few days, this is because I don’t have any Sodium Cromoglycate. Or so I thought. I dropped in my repeat prescription on Thursday, it takes 24 hours for a repeat to be got and filled; which is why it’s not ready yet.
So I headed off, and after a few false stops on the M4 hard shoulder things settled down and my bike’s slightly uneasy beat clattered – the sun shone – and I relaxed into the ride. Not fast, but steady. And then the M25 happened. It was closed. At Junction 10 they closed it, as I filtered through mile after mile of stationary traffic Cherry performed flawlessly, except that she drank like a fish. That and there was 2 stroke seeping from the top of the engine and flowing backwards. I decided I’d come far enough and was going to do the damn journey ;-)
They dumped the traffic off at J10, no diversion signs or anything, just ‘here you are, this is the A3, go where thou wilst’. I decided to head south west, this appearing a better option than going North, into London. By this time my eyes were streaming and I was stopping periodically to just wash them to try and stop the salt water eating into my skin. But, after a few false exits (which lead me back onto the A3), I decided that I knew that Brighton was South East of my current location, looked up at the sun, and headed off appropriately. That was the best bit of the ride, it was truly gorgeous. Single track lanes, overhanging trees, winging my way through fields. The bike wasn’t stressed so it’s sickly engine didn’t phaze me; but eventually I thought ‘crap, I need to actually get to Brighton’.
So, I made a concerted effort, and eventually made it there. The bike by now coated in the leaking 2 stroke and burning mostly gearbox oil. I had a lovely time, it was good to catch up and see friends, however after 6 hours riding I needed to get going – because I knew that lots of main roads were closed, that lots of main roads were packed, and that I was working an Early today. So I headed back, and with the sun on my face and the wind against me I trundled along the south coast – and it was *gorgeous*. The sea, the sand / shale / shingle / pebbles. The salty air. The smell of burning oil.
I finally got back at 11:30, having left the house at 10. I hurt, I was so tired I nearly collapsed after stepping off the bike, my eyes were so sore that I couldn’t cry, although I’d yelped in pain quite a lot, and I just fell into bed. Waking up several times during the night just to deal with the pain from my eyes. I’d never realised quite how important Sodium Cromoglycate is to me when I’ve got bad hayfever.
So it was with guarded excitment I looked in the cupboard this morning, I’d had this thought ‘hang on a minute, I remember, near the back, there were some eyedrops’. And there were. They’re 2 months out of date, but thanks to the staggering efficency of my GP practice that’s the best I can manage.
They do still at least appear to work.
Getting the bad news over and done with, the Government dept I periodically witter about have moved the goalposts *again*. Whenever I send them what they ask for they then say “aaaah, but you didn’t send us this (which we didn’t ask for before)”; I think this letter over here (waves in it’s general direction) is sufficent, but I can’t ring them today to find out. They (and possibly I) am fortunate that it’s Saturday, because I really am quite angry. It takes quite a lot to make me angry; really *quite* a lot, but being fucked around by them for 6+ months is quite enough to make me want to beat them to death.
BUT – on the good news front, the new graphics card has arrived, the shield for my hat for pride *and* most awesome of awesome, I’ve got two job interviews… :-)
