(4.20) “Sparrow’s fart” seems to get earlier as I get older. The early rising however assisted in my 7 o’clock arrival at the airport (earlier than expected as the roads were remarkably traffic-free). I parked up at Terminal 2 (International Arrivals) and was informed, by the Information Desk, that the Air France flight was arriving at Terminal 3 (also International Arrivals), a brisk 15 minute walk away. I didn’t want to mess about moving the car so I left it where it was and hot-footed it across the airport. The Flight Arrivals board told me that the Air France flight was arriving 20 minutes late, so I grabbed a cup of coffee and waited until 08:30 – with no sign of brother or nephew. My phone rang and I was duly informed, by my brother, that he was waiting for me in Terminal 1 (International Arrivals) and where was I?! The reason he was waiting for me in Terminal 1? He had arrived there courtesy of Emirates, from Dubai, and when I confronted him about HIS mistake, he claimed (unconvincingly I may add) that he had never said he was coming by Air France at all. However we did have a discussion a couple of months before where I might, just might, have mentioned KLM (my usual flight provider) who are partnered with Air France, and that he should consider using them as they are usually the cheapest. Emirates, it seems, were even cheaper. And so, my eagerness to get to the airport on time, plus the delay caused by my assumption that I knew exactly where I was going and precisely why, led to a parking fee of £16.00! Dick Turpin is alive and well in Manchester. ‘Bumbling Idiot’ is alive and, well, inhabiting me! The journey back took us through the local city and I called into my Gujurat grocer for carrots only to find him completely bereft of said vegetable. None at his competition up the road either. No ‘equine’ carrots, anywhere. Unfortunately retail carrots were the only option and, for the price of 20kgs of equine carrots I obtained just 3 kgs of the retail variety. I can see this week being an expensive week. As it was almost midday, while brother talked to sister, I disappeared and fed the animals. And it was lovely. I genuinely think that Robbie missed me as he was very boisterous and very attentive, quite ‘loving’ really, if I’m allowed to say that about another ‘bloke’. Once they were settled, and while no-one was looking, I uprooted and relocated one of the budding vines on the premise that if they were both going to burst into life, they should be a little farther apart than 4 inches! Now they can still see each other but can’t touch. I cast my eyes over the Irises but no slug. It must have been a much more difficult journey going back down the plant but the slug had gone. Nature is clever. Because I had breakfasted the animals late, my sister offered to feed the animals their tea even later and I drove off to deliver brother and son to mother. Despite my VB6 regime, on arrival at mother’s at 5pm it was impossible to resist a couple of fried egg sandwiches (even though the eggs were shop-bought and not a patch on mine!) and a thin sliver of fruit cake, washed down with a couple of cups of tea (which always taste better when made by someone else). On the return journey to the farm I briefly glimpsed an incident on a roundabout near the one-house town. By the crash barrier that encircles a sunken ‘island’ in the centre of this large roundabout, was a motorbike on its side stand and a cluster of bike-type debris all around the bike. The rider, in green leathers, was crouched by the side of the bike. Alongside him was an ambulance with its lights flashing. And for the next few miles I pondered such things as: the bike was obviously damaged but the rider was ‘upright’ so why the ambulance? If the bike wasn’t rideable, why the ambulance and not a recovery truck? If, say, an unseen pillion passenger was injured, why the static ambulance? And as the rider appeared not to be injured (you’ve got to be a bit of a contortionist to crouch down in a set of leathers anyway) why the static ambulance? And inside all of these questions – where were the police? And, even more puzzling, who called for just the ambulance? A mystery that will never be solved! The Business point? Get your facts right and avoid, wherever possible, the making of assumptions and, even worse still, acting on those assumptions. Worry about the things that affect you directly, and leave the peripheral stuff alone. You can waste a lot of time trying to resolve mysteries that have no impact on you or your business. I couldn’t do anything about the accident as I was on a dual carriageway and was unable to turn round, for a few miles anyway. With an emergency service in attendance I’m sure that the last thing they would need is a ‘rubber-necker’ asking stupid questions. A friend of my brother had a car that needed approximately £4,000 spending on it to get it through an MOT. The car’s value, on the open market, was £2,000 before any repairs were undertaken. He sold it for scrap and invested the scrap-money and the £4,000 in a much newer car. There are times when you just have to cut your losses and move on. Throwing good money after bad is not to be recommended, unless of course you are throwing good money in my direction!! The Daily Llama
Posted on: Sat, 29 Jun 2013 21:22:48 +0000
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