G. O. M.
About two years ago one of my readers wrote to say she particularly enjoyed the G.O.M bits of my blog. It took me a little time to work out that she was referring to my Grumpy Old Man bits (apparently this was a TV programme). I have not heard from here recently and suspect that is due to the lack of G.O.M. material.
During our spell on L&L a few months ago we left the boat in Skipton for a few days and on our return found it had developed a hairy green coating. Yes, the BW veg squad had strimmed all along by the boats and the trimmings were well and truly adhered to paint and glass. It took a deal of time and effort to remove this unwanted addition to our external decor. You may imagine my response, therefore, when this morning's chores were disturbed by the noise of a strimmer approaching Gecko. You may imagine it but fortunately you did not witness it. I am not proud of the attitude I exhibited but it did stop the morons before they qualified for a ducking. I offered to move the boat along to a piece they had cut but they took umbrage at my remonstration and said i would have to sign a form! Whilst moron 1 went to fetch the rucksack which presumably contained their job description and risk analysis moron explained that they were insructed to knock on any boat and if it was unoccupied they could strim away merrily. I pointed out that I was in the boat, the cratch cover was open and they did not knock.
For which he admitted responsibility. When moron 1 returned with the appropriate form and I prepared to relate the incident on the form they decided that a form was no longer required and departed. What is the logic of spraying boats with grass only when they are unoccupied?
For six years I worked in London and cycled there each day. Often this involved canal towpaths. During the rail strikes I regularly cycled from Ricky to Paddington, a total journey of 40+ miles each way. As I trekked down to the Elsan today with the cassette on a trolley I was nearly wiped out three times by mad cyclists. There is a breed of cyclist who are ready to spend £500 or more on a bike but cannot scrape up £2.39 for a bell or enough breath to announce their presence. Perhaps they fear the equilibrium of their finely balanced steed would be disturbed or maybe it's down to street cred. Well one of them had a fright when i stopped to check the cassette was still ok on the trolley unaware of Chris Boardman hurtling towards me. He had to take a detour onto the grass between the mooring rings and the canal and only just made it. What a shame the grass had been strimmed otherwise he might have found it a little more difficult.