Trains, suits and presentation

Phone call at the arse-end of last week, between myself and some woman:

(W) You want an interview
(M) Yeah
(W) I'll send the details in the post
(M) OK

Bit more to it than that but you get the jist. Anyway...

Turns out I need a suit but I left both of them (yes, both of them - I like suits) in Carlisle. Yoyed with the idea of having my boyo send them down in the post but I thought better of it as the suits are worth close to £500 ($1,500cn) and thought I might as well go up to Carlisle to collect them (after all what's £23.15?) So I went up yesterday two and a half hours on the train there, thirty minute walk to mine, picked up suits, thirty minute walk back to the station followed by another two and a half hour train journey back to Liverpool. Hence me meeting L in a bad mood - sorry girl! Nearly had an argument over what to eat, but that's neither here nor there.

Presentation went well today, very short but at least the context was correct, so hopefully I should produce a half decent paper on housing deprivation -WHOPEE FUCKING DO! Got another presentation tomorrow for Urban Regeneration (which I'm trying to work on whilst writing this.) So much work over the next couple of weeks it isn't even funny - unlike the really bad transvestite I saw in the pub yesterday - tee hee hee.

Back to work.......

Sex week

Thoroughly enjoyable.

Thanks L

Oh yeah! I don't know - BIG!

That was quick

Yesterday evening I applied for a job with Watkins Jones - a construction company based in North Wales - but thank the sweet lord they have offices in Manchester and Chester.

Anyway, as I said, I applied yesterday evening. This morning I received an e-mail saying that they wanted me to send out a CV immediately as the closing date for the graduate scheme had already closed. So I did that straight away.

30 minutes later the phone rings.

They want me to go for an interview on 22nd June. The job isn't in the bag, but the signals are looking good.

Hadrian's Wall

It rained.

To stop L going on about "Baby sheeps" I decided to buy her a toy sheep - which she named "Oswald" as he was purchased at the Roman fort of "Birdoswald" (as I said, girls are cute when they're 25!)

We had lunch in Carlisle, before seeing the cathedral and the castle, I thought they liked the cathedral, but were disappointed by the castle, but that probably had something to do with the fact that the heavens had opened and we got soaked and it was cold - nowt I can do about that though.

So we headed off back into Carlisle for afternoon tea (but being North American it soon turned into afternoon coffee!) Again, very nice but then we were soon running out of time as they needed to get to the train station. So T (L's dad) and myself dropped off L and her mam (mom) at the station and we returned the car. Then we had to belt it back to the station only to realise that the train had been delayed by 15 minutes.

Anyway, all in all it was a pretty cool couple of days and I think that L's parents like me, even though they know I'm only 21!

Driving in the Lake District

Not so much driving, more like being a passenger and navigator.

Met up with L and her parents on Tuesday morning to go and collect the rental car - a 1.8 Vauxhall Astra, looks pretty but that's about it. L was driving. I don't know what cars are like to drive in North America, but going from the way L drove they must all be tanks.

Anyway...I decided the only way for them to see the pretty parts of the Lake District was if I took them on the back roads. I won't say anything else about L's driving because I thought she did pretty well, but how on earth the left-hand side of the car remained intact was beyond me.

We ended up in Grasmere, Dove Cottage - where Wordworth lived for nine years. Anyway...it was all very pretty. But the lass that showed us round had the weirdest fucked-up accent I have heard since the last time I spoke to my mate Dave (originally from Liverpool, but now lives in Hereford - sounds half scouse half brummie). Anyway...she made me laugh.

So we headed off to Keswick to grab some lunch (and a pint for me). I was sooo hungry it wasn't funny, my stomach could probably have been heard in Windermere. So I had a pint of Cumberland Ale (yeah!) and steak and ale pie - a pub classic. We then headed off to the lake (Derwent Water) and L was transfixed by the...and I quote, "Baby sheeps" (girls are so cute when they're 25).

After a few photos we then decided to go and find Wheyrigg Stone Circle (a very poor man's version of Stonehenge). So off we headed. I then remembered a very nice place to take photos, so I took them up this mountain to the most photographed place in England - Ashburn Bridge. More photos ensued and it was all very nice. So off we headed to find this damned stone circle.

On our way from Grasmere to Keswick we saw that the stone circle was signposted, could we find the fucking thing?

Could we fuck.

Anyway we got sick and tired of looking and decided to go up to Gretna Green (Scotland, for you foreigners). On our way back through Keswick we saw the stone circle signposted again (miles away from where we first saw it signposted). Anyway, we got there after trying to find it for the best part of an hour...and we spent about 5 minutes there. I don't think anybody was too impressed.

So we went to Scotland...it smelled pretty bad. There was a nice little parish church and a very nice Rolls Royce - that was Scotland.

We then decided to go and have some tea, so I took them to my 'local' - a pub which is about 30 minutes walk from my house, but they sell Cumberland Ale (yeah!). Again, it was all very nice...although I think L's dad wasn't overly keen on the Ale...not a bad thing - just leaves more for my dad, bro and me.

Now it was L's turn to meet my parents. But after dropping her parent's off at the B&B and her putting a quick face on and changing her clothes... we missed my dad by about 30 seconds. But she met my mam and it went very well.

Meet the Parents

Rewind to 4th April.

L and her parents were coming up to Carlisle. Not to see Carlisle of course because there's next to nowt here, but to see Hadrian's Wall and the Lake District. So I went up town early, had a bit of a stroll, got bored and went to the pub until L's train arrived.

Everything was going OK. I had a pint of Deuchar's IPA, very nice it was too. Had a quick Canadian Club to get in the swing of things (L is Canadian), then buggered off to the train station.

L's train arrived slightly early, her parents were arriving about 10 minutes later, fine - no problem. Well, a slight one. L to this moment hadn't actually told her parents of my existence. Anyway, her parents arrived and there was an awkward kinda introduction. L still not actually telling them who I was, only being introduced as Martyn.

So we got a taxi to the B&B that I had found for them and left them to it. I then disappeared to the pub up the road until I was contacted by L so she could let me know what the hell was going on. Another pint later and I met up with themagain outside the B&B. By this point L had actually told them we were dating. So off we went into town.

So we had an Italian, everythings was very nice, I showed them a small part of the city, notably the cathedral and castle. Then we walked back to the B&B where I left them.

All in all, I think it went pretty well.

The airport and the twat

Just to let everyone know...I am not stupid. Daft - yes, stupid - no.Anyway....last Tuesday my girlfriend (L), was arriving back at Manchester airport after a short break in Denmark.

She thought I was going to meet her at Liverpool Lime Street, but on Thursday morning I woke and thought it would nice if I met her at the airport.The flight wasn't due in until 6:30pm, I arrived at the airport at 5pm, at least 90 minutes to kill. So I got to the arrivals lounge, bought myself a barely drinkable vanilla latte, sat down and read my book.

The flight arrived early, only 5 minutes mind, so once I noticed the flight had landed I made my way from the coffee place down to the rails.

Everything was going OK.....

Stood there for fucking ages....

No sign of her or her sister (K).

Tried calling her, but it rang and went to answerphone. I thought she must be waiting for her baggage. So i continued to wait.....

.....and wait

until the flight status disappeared form the screen.....fuck.

Managed to get through to her on her phone......
(Me) Hey! Where are ya?
(L) I'm on the train
(Me) Fuck!!!
(L) Where are you? Are you still in Carlisle?
(Me) No. Guess again.
(L) Manchester airport?
(Me) Bingo!
(L) Hahahahaha

I was fucking raging with myself. Fair enough, one one of them could've possibly slipped past....but the two of them. I sat very quietly on the train to Manchester airport, as my blood boiled. I was not happy.

I felt like a right twat.