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Cyclists can't read
23 October 2015 15:14


I’ve been shopping this morning. It was really exciting. Not. But a partially successful trip. The main objectives were to buy something with the money I received for my birthday, and to get a present for CGF’s forthcoming birthday.

I rapidly came to the conclusion that both CGF and I are very difficult to buy for. But I found something to partially use my birthday money (a small DAB radio that I can plug in to the car audio system (which is a posh name for a car radio)). Having virtually given up on the CGF present objective I eventually found something in the last shop I visited – a shop that I only went to by chance, on my way back to the car.

I went to Newbury for my shopping trip. It’s about the same distance as Basinghole, though possibly a shorter time as there is a dual-carriageway most of the way there. I don’t know why it is, but every time I drive to Basinghole I get stuck behind a bus or truck or weekend-driver and the journey takes far longer than it should.

Newbury is quite a good shopping centre, and fairly quiet on a Friday morning. There did seem to be quite a few kids about which could mean one of: Berkshire schools are on half-term this week; Newbury schools have a Baker Day today; Newbury has a big truancy problem. It has a Marks & Sparks, Debenhams, John Lewis (my birthday voucher is for John Lewis, so that was convenient), and a Lakeland. I also found a beer shop and a butcher. There is also a canal running through the centre, and, unlike Basinghole, you don’t need a map and compass to find your way out of the carpark.

I had a cheque to pay in (refund of road tax from my previous car) so found a bank. This was a large branch in a medium-sized town but, you know what? There was only ONE cashier desk in the whole place. There were, however, four machines where you could withdraw money (and another three outside), two where you could deposit, and three where you could do both. Seems like the “personal” has gone from “personal banking”.

While drinking my coffee (not just any coffee shop; the John Lewis coffee shop) overlooking the street below, I noticed the road was open only to certain types of traffic – buses, taxis and cyclists. The words “Bus” and “Taxi” were painted on the roadway, but a picture of a bicycle was used. Conclusion: Cyclists can’t read.

It was Back to the Future Day last week. I remember the film. Well, I remember watching the film. It was shown on the plane on my first trip to USA – this was back in the day when there was only one film, and it was projected onto a screen in the cabin. The film was also shown on the way back, so I slept through it. Looking through the lists of “things the film predicted” I realised that I remember very little about the film. I don’t remember anything about the ‘future’ part of the story. Maybe I slept through it on the way out too.

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