Back home my car battery had gone flat in the cold. Flat as a first day back at work. Flat as the front tyre on the Black Bullet and both tyres on my mountain bike.
This first day back at work had me moving from one transport option to the other like the Bruce Willis character in Pulp Fiction looking for a weapon. Late and without an immediate ride, I paused to wonder how my relatively considered and ordered lifestyle could have come to this. It’s not fair, went the frank conceit of my wondering but I knew that I’d have to ditch the bitching and get to a workable solution, fast.
This involved a struggle to remember if I was due anywhere but the office in the next couple of days, a decision about fixing the car and a fretful last minute switch of childcare responsibilities. Jane was still a bit miffed about something that happened in Holland and I had to tread carefully, but there was no time. I stopped her at the door, blurted out the facts and pressed the baby into her arms. She would have to drop him off at nursery while I pumped up my bicycle tyres.
Fortunately Jane is one of the good guys and she doesn’t tend to make things harder than they already are. This is, quite frankly, a keystone in the arch of happiness. Without this tacit support you’re always kind of vulnerable. It was also fortunate for me that it was the day of my work’s Christmas lunch, so I would have been cycling locally anyway.
The following day I moved into the doghouse next door, thanks to my brilliant performance at lunch and into the evening. Using Rock'n'Roll Power, I challenged my colleagues to a post-lunch drink in every pub in town, which numbered 12 or 14 depending on who you believe. It was a lot of drinking and I won, making the last two on the list with only a non-drinking acoustician for company. The rest fell by the wayside as I knew they would when they forgetfully started ordering pints to my halves. Nonetheless, it was an important win which will be brought out, brushed off and buffed up every time one these young guys tries it on in the office, until the day the record is broken.
