Ian

07:45 am: Douglas again
Today we went on the electric railway to Ramsey and from there to a
wildlife park. All the areas were swamps: European swamp, Asian swap,
African swamp etc. There were some very interesting animals there. The
crab-eating macaques, for example. They were eating oranges.
Afterwards, we looked at the swing bridge and walked along the
promenade at Ramsey before returning to Douglas.

10:59 am: Port Erin
Won another £40 last night. This morning, up quite early again and
after breakfast we took a horse tram to the other end of Douglas
before finding the steam train south to Castletown. The train was
pretty packed as we went through the rain. Castletown had the castle,
Castle Rushen, to offer. So we explored the castle quite thoroughly in
the rain, taking the advantage of the stairs to go up to the highest
point, looking also at all the rooms of the medieval castle and
reading what the rooms were used for. But it was very wet.
Then off to Port Erin on a later train. It was still raining. So we
went for a lunch at the Falcons Hotel before having a look at the
beach and out at Bradda Head. I remember it from my extreme youth when
my mum wouldn't walk up to Bradda Head because it was too far, thiugh
her step-father quite cheerfully did walk there. Today, we might have
walked up there if the weather had been fit, but it wasn't. So instead
we walked a little bit on the beach before taking refuge in a little
coffee shop. The coffee shop owner gave us a lift back to the station
in the rain...
Now, we're on the train back north which has just started. Next stop:
Port St Mary. Current music: Christopher playing CdeB's Crusader on
his phone.

01:36 pm: Snaefell
Breakfast as usual for a Hilton this morning, and then we went for a
walk along the promenade towards the Electric Railway. From there, we
went on the noisy and slow railway at speeds of up to 20mph on our way
to Laxey.
Laxey has what is possibly Man's most famous landmark: Laxey Wheel.
Forty years after my mum stopped me climbing it because I would surely
fall and kill myself, I made it to the top. It offers splendid views
of the surrounding area, as well as being of itself a triumph of early
Victorian engineering. No doubt you can later zip over to vivh's LJ to see some pictures of this big red wheel. A short
trip on a mine railway took us to the local pub where we had a drink
and some hot chips before catching the Snaefell Mountain Railway. This
is another slow and antique railway, but takes us to the island's
highest point. Reasonable views, but as soon as we reached the top,
the clouds closed in. Rather than the promised six kingdoms supposedly
visible: Man, England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and Heaven, we could
scarcely even see one! The cloud lifted slightly, so Matthew and I
caught a glimpse of the Scots coast. We didn't hang around: the top of
the radio masts were not visible from the bottom of them. But I'm very
glad we came. Now, after just catching it, we're on the way down the
mountain, back to Laxey. From there, perhaps another trip somewhere,
or perhaps just back to Douglas for a snooze. Tonight I might try my
hand at the roulette at the casino again: after all, I won £10 there
last night. Everyone seems to be in good shape. We are taking it very
easy here compared with Viv's usual "let's do six impossible things
before breakfast" approach to holidays.

06:01 pm: Three legs
After an early start, a taxi to Speke and breakfast in the lounge, we
took the flight here. It was a very short flight, as expected. A taxi
took us to the IOM Hilton, where we put our bags in one room that was
ready and set off down the sea-front towards town. Some of it was on
the road, some on the beach. It is quite wild, and I'm glad we didn't
take the boat to here. Once in town, we had some lunch and then caught
a horse-drawn tram back to the hotel. Matthew is appalled that we came
to a place still using such obsolete technology. I explained that it
is partly for the tourists.
Then we went to see The Mummy movie, partly because the weather really
isn't so good. The weather is better than the movie. It is a while
since I have seen such thin plotted tripe. As for the battles, Peter
Jackson did them first and better.
We're now back in the hotel. Viv is downloading photos, I'm typing
this and the boys are in their room, probably watching television.
Later on, something else. We will certainly do something for the
evening meal, but the hotel's steak prices exceed what Viv is prepared
to pay. In fact, they even exceed what I am prepared to pay!

07:52 am: Liverpool Airport
Good morning from Speke. We're at the gate, waiting to board the short
flight. Looking out of the window at a plane with real propellors
(sp?) and almsot ready to go. We are sitting quietly waiting while
nearly everyone has joined a queue. With allocated seats, what's the
big deal?

06:37 am: Forthcoming flights
Sat 16 Aug 2008
BE602 Liverpool to Isle of Man dep 08:10 arr 08:45

Wed 20 Aug 2008
BE607 Isle of Man to Liverpool dep 16:45 arr 17:20

Tue 26 Aug 2008
BD585 Manchester to Heathrow dep 08:55 arr 10:00

Tags: fly

08:58 pm: The lounge
Good evening. After Monday, I made my way across to Holland Park to
spend most of the evening in the lounge looking at websites and
catching up with the news. Tuesday and with no data to process, it
wasn't hard to get to the Toastmasters meeting I was chairing.
By Wednesday afternoon, the data was available and had started to be
chopped up and reassembled in a different order, but there is still
more to do.
Tonight has been more relaxing. I have deliberately not brought my
computer to the lounge. Instead, I've been snacking, crosswording,
reading, sudokuing and chilling.
Tomorrow: the end of Block One of chemo for Christopher, A Level
results for David and AS results for Matthew.

07:47 am: Lifts / Elevators / Ascenseurs
From my extreme youth, I remember a little storybook called Jade
Tales. One of the stories was about a little girl's adventures in a
rogue lift.
Why can't people undertand how they work? Outside a lift/elevator,
there are usually two buttons, one for up and one for down. When it
arrives at a floor, there's a sign to show which way it is going. Yet
it seems this is beyond too many people.
Last week, I got into a lift where a couple of people were already
waiting. I wanted the 9th floor, but the 9 was already lit. Another
passenger got in, said "9 please" and someone pushed the 8 button.
On two floors on the way up, people got in and seemed very surprised
when the lift continued to go up. And of course we also stopped on the
8th floor for no good reason.
I thought this was my worst journey of the week, but no. The next
evening, I got into an empty lift from which a mother and daughter
(probably) had just emerged. Every floor button had been pushed, so I
stopped on every floor to 9. The top floor there is 10. Not good.

06:55 am: Weekend review
It has been a quiet week. Also the weekend. Friday night proved to be
a more exciting journey than for a while: the 18.08 was delayed
leaving Euston. I was trapped in the queue at Platform 7 and unable to
get to the 18.17 to Lime Street. Then the platform guy shouted that
the train on Platform 7 might not be the 18.08 after all and told us
to wait on the concourse. And a minute later announced that our train
would be from P7 after all. Nobody was impressed, but I did manage to
get into Coach G for the pedestrian journey to Crewe. There, the crowd
for the Chester train was huge, and when a single unit arrived, I
decided I'd be better going via Liverpool on the London Midland train.
So I did that. Once I got home, the curry was very good, not least
because I was hungry like the raven.
Saturday got off to a slow start, not aided by the weather. On the
other hand, I did get to sort through many piles of rubbish that had
accumulated and also ordered a three piece suite, a ticket to the
Leeds Festival and a couple of other bits and pieces.
Sunday? More about Elisha on Sunday morning, this time the story of
Naaman. After lunch, a trip of limited success into Bebington before
an evening service most notable for having Murph there, back up to
Bebington to see his extended family and friends. Then home for coffee
and sleep.
Our Christopher is now almost at the end of the first major block of
chemotherapy. There is then a two week break before the next block.
What I've heard about this doesn't sound like it will be pretty.
For those who drop in here occasionally: Christopher, 14, was
diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) in mid-May and has
been having large amounts of chemotherapy since. So far, he has been
responding very well to the treatment, though sometimes gets very
tired. Howver, it is still very early, as the treatment in total lasts
for three years.
Between the two blocks of treatment, we will be taking a break. Next
Saturday morning we will fly to the Isle of Man, where we will stay
for four nights, flying back late Wednesday afternoon. We plan to take
it very easy. (Why fly when there's a perfectly good and regular
ferry? It means that we are never more than an hour or so from a
suitable hospital. Also, ferry crossings can be quite rough, which is
not appropriate for someone who already feels sick most of the time.
Thank you for asking.)
Chester Station already? More later. I want to write about idiots in
lifts/elevators next.

12:59 pm: Heart of the City (live)
I spent Tuesday in almost soundless bubble, able to talk on the phone
and listen carefully to anyone sitting right next to me. I am very
thankful that by Wednesday morning I was pretty much back to normal.
It has been reasonably quiet (!) this week. Last night, I was back at
the Plaza quite early again, and had one of those fabled things, an
early night.
It is meeting day today, but they are not in my office, so I am
putting the Tube to good advantage and an Oyster card likewise.
As I left, a protest was getting underway outside. The banners
appeared to say "Funding Climate Change" but I couldn't be sure, as I
was on the other side of the road, walking away from them. That's the
advice given to people not involved in demos.

10:24 pm: What a magnificent show
What a magnificent show. The sound system was less than perfect,
however, and finding myself at the very front didn't help things. But
it was all a very thrilling show, but quite different in feel from the
Royal Court (Liverpool, 1984?) and the Odeon (Birmingham, 1986?)
though the music was largely the same. 68 Guns live is still something
very special, though a lot of the others were great too. Where were
you hiding when the storm broke? Spirit of '76. That's enough to make
it worth the price.
On the other hand, it wasn't worth losing my hearing for, so I
fervently hope and pray that my somewhat impaired hearing is largely
recovered by the morning.
For the benefit of anyone wondering, tonight's evening meal was a 12"
reggae reggae chicken sub.
But for now, it's a free trip from Oxford Circus to Wembley Stadium
via Marylebone.
While we were in Brussels in March, we walked down a major and famous
shopping street late at night and remarked how quiet it was. Viv said
it would be the same walking down Oxford Street late at night and
tonight I am able to confirm that this is indeed true.
It has been a long day and I don't think I will need much rocking
tonight. Goodnight, children, wherever you are.

09:53 am: Reasonably painless
09.40 and I'm already on a train at Euston Square, so I should be all
set for a ten o'clock start unless something stupid happens on the
Metropolitan Line. But where are all the people? Scarcely anyone on
the train, scarcely anyone waiting at KXSP. Or is this train just a
minute behind a late running one?
A day at work, then off to check in, drop my bag off and get changed
before coming back into the City for The Alarm. I recently discovered
that Mike Peters, lead for The Alarm, is in remission from CLL
leukaemia. But the show is several hours away. Liverpool Street
station, on the other hand, is less than a minute away!

07:19 am: Yes, it's me again
Viv met me in Chester on Friday night and we went home. A fairly quiet
night. Saturday morning over to Liverpool, where it was Viv's turn to
give blood. And on the way home, off to the Co-op for a trip which
proved only a limited success: no streaky bacon at all, no
semi-skimmed milk except in tiny cartons. In the afternoon, we took a
leisurely walk to look at furniture, where we discovered that Viv's
ideal sofa has nothing in common with my or Chris's ideal sofa. But we
did get a takeaway curry.
I had finished writing my sermon in the afternoon and delivered it at
the 10.30 service. 2 Kings 4:18-37. An ideal choice: the death of a
son. Yet, difficult as it was, it was well received by many and more
people thanked me than I remember doing in the past. I'll post a copy
of it shortly. Salmon for lunch, a snooze in the afternoon and then
off to the evening service.
All the time, people are asking how Christopher is and it's hard to
answer. The answer is that he is responding very well to the treatment
but he has good days and bad days, and there are other details not for
here.
By now, I'm on my way to Crewe and London. That is all.

08:21 am: New month
It's been a good week, for the most part.
Less frantic than many weeks at work (but just wait till the week
after next) and relaxed outside work too.
Viv and Christopher went to the hospital again yesterday, to pick up
supplies of medications, though not to get any direct treatment.
Christopher will be between treatments later this month, giving the
opportunity for us all to take a break.
One day at work, then the weekend. I am looking forward to it, even
though I am preaching on Sunday morning.
Did I mention in my last post that I'm going to see The Alarm on
Monday night? Tickets still available at thealarm.com for anyone
interested. Well, I suppose they are available even if you're not
interested.
In other news, a big Lambeth feature in The Times today, with an op-ed
by +Orombi.
But for now, I'm on the train from Wembley to Marylebone. Obviously
this won't get posted until we are out of the tunnel. That is all.

10:50 pm: Tuesday evening
A baking hot Monday passed by without much incident. I watched the C4 documentary about sandwiches and discovered that two cheezburgers is better for me than a Pret sammich.
Then almost straight away I went to sleep and as far as I can tell slept through an almighty thunderstorm.
Woke this morning to find most things outside damp or worse. Another day at work, and then I decided it was time to go and watch a movie. The choices I had in mind were the Dark Knight and Mamma Mia. The time of the next show determined my choice.
The Dark Knight is not deep, but it does have action, and it does have disturbing scenes. At times, I saw parents taking young children out of the cinema, never to return. Surely they had been warned that it wasn't a children's movie? Maybe they didn't listen, or possibly wanted to traumatise them so that tomorrow they can say "I told you so". Certainly some of the scenes were close to disturbing.
And the main cinema at Finchley Road was packed at 7 o'clock on a Tuesday evening. This, in itself, seems almost worthy of note.

07:46 am: Good morning. I wrote a long entry on Saturday but it got eaten by either Google, BlackBerry or LiveJournal. Whichever it was, it didn't make it all the way to my journal. The device promised it had saved it, but if it did, I can't find it. So here is something approaching a retyping of it, but this time on a computer, and I'll save it in a place of my knowing before I post it.
Last week was a very busy one, though in theory it should have been one of our quieter weeks. This is for a combination of reasons too boring and too confidential to write about here.
On Tuesday evebing, I was fortunate in being able to get to Toastmasters in time to deliver a speech at the club. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't my finest work by a long way, unfortunately.
Wednesday was another day a bit like that, but maybe not quite so much. Without the whole of the weekend to blur the memory, I'm sure I wrote better on Saturday.
What I do remember quite vividly is that the Underground was unbearably hot for some of last week, meaning that you felt like you'd done a full day of work before ever reaching the office.
Friday was an ordinary sort of day. A group of us went over to Premier Place for something to eat for lunch: Friday is generally fish and chips day, but I was tempted by the Waldorf Salad. It's a sad reflection of our society that the Waldorf Salad these days is better associated with Fawlty Towers than with the Waldorf=Astoria. Despite that, it wasn't at all bad, and one of the best value meals I have eaten there.
Friday evening, and it was once again the 18:08 from Euston to Crewe, the 20:03 from Crewe to Chester and the 20:30 from Chester to Bromborough.
It was, or at least seemed, a very rapid trip, though this is probably true, as in all it was less than three and a half hours from door to door.
Friday morning had been a cheap trip to work, as the Oyster network for ticketing was not working and so it was free trips for all (except, of course those who had season tickets...)
Saturday morning, and a family trip to Liverpool to give blood. I successfully donated another unit and got my award for ten (even though it's eleven since they started counting and far more than that if you count earlier donations and those in New Zealand) but apparently Matthew isn't veiny enough and hs been told to comer back and try again in a couple of years.
The rest of Saturday was quiet, except for the trip to Alder Hey. It's a long way to go for a straightforward treatment of chemotherapy, and Christopher wasn't happy and said that they gave it to him too fast, which is quite possible. But he looks to be in good shape considering what's happening.
He looked brighter and pinker than he has for a while this weekend, but this is no doubt as a result of two more units of blood he received on Thursday afternoon/evening. As the chemotherapy continues, his blood count will tend to get lower, resulting in a requirement for more blood. He could possibly have waited another week, but it's better for it to be at a time when it can be planned and isn't an emergency.
He went along to the service on Sunday morning, and after that we walked up from home slowly to the Merebrook, where he ate a ribeye steak and chips. I had a mixed grill, and very good it was too.
In the evening, it was Darren's last service, which he led professionally. It was a shock to realise that he isn't going to be with us after this week.
And so to this morning, an early start, but not too bad. The worst part is having to pay a full fare from Chester to London for the first time since I started this lark. However, I'm glad I didn't decide to splash out and pay for first class: there is no full breakfast service on this train. This is not good. It is astoundingly rare for this train to offer all of the following: an on-time service, in-seat music service, hot and cold food and drinks, acceptance of credit cards, printing of receipts. All of these should surely be expected on a train that is supposed to offer them.
So I'm now at Crewe Station, waiting for the train to leave here on its way south. The weather has deteriorated abominably since I left home about an hour ago.

09:40 pm: I'm in the bar
I was pretty tired before the day started, and by six o'clock it was
definitely time to stop. Across London to Olympia in time to watch the
Gafcon documentary. Not surprisingly I wasn't happy with it. Then
University Challenge, a phone conversation with Christopher, who seems
to be more lively than I am and with Viv. Then down here for a bite to
eat and a couple of glasses of fruit juice before I turn in for an
early night.

09:09 am: Live from Northampton
It's about one week in three, it seems, that we are diverted onto the
Northampton line because of signalling issues and today is one of
those days. On the plus side, the music channels are working; on the
other side, there's no power to the credit card and receipt printer in
the buffet or the power points at the seats.
Home at a decent time on Friday night. Some shopping...actually quite
a lot of shopping...on Saturday. Sunday morning and it was the
ordinary service. In the afternoon, it was a farewell to Darren and
Sharon on the rectory lawn. It's being rehabilitated as a place for
events. Maybe we'll even see the return of the Rectory Garden Party?
Christopher went along to the farewell and seemed to enjoy it, though
tiredness does seem to be the way at the moment, but I seem to be not
much different myself.
Another day at the Bank today. But with the Northampton detour it
won't be a ten o'clock start today. Perhaps half past.

08:51 am: Wembley on a Wednesday
Good morning, olgeta!
Once I arrived at the office, it all started. There was no let-up till
after ten o'clock when I finally set off, exhausted, for Wembley.
Along with far more passengers than I expected, I hurried from
Marylebone Bakerloo to the mainline to catch the northbound train.
Just made it. Won't say anything about the hotel here: I'm still in
discussions with the manager.
Tuesday was a relatively quieter day, though I was alarmed by the
realisation that the thought "at least I can leave early tonight" as I
was packing up came at half past six.
This morning, a stupidly overcrowded train as a result of a mech
failure meaning only two cars instead of four. Yes, we did get an
apology. Now, on to Bishopsgate.
The word from home is that Christopher is still as well as might be
expected. Matthew is still off to school till the end of the week.
David is still in Vancouver, unless he has headed off to Rockridge by
now.
Viv is in Keswick, and will be back to Wirral mid-afternoon as far as
I know. And Betty is keeping an eye on what's happening.
I phoned Matthew this morning: "ah, so you've called to harass me
too?" Sorry. It shows we care, I suppose.

This just in: +Rowan apologises that Christianity is offensive to
Muslims. I suppose that nobody worries that Islam is offensive to me.
That's the problem with discrimination. Nobody takes it seriously if
it's against a white, Christian, heterosexual male. I suppose I'll
have to "get over it". One rule for you, one rule for me.

09:26 am: Euston Square
Defective train at Great Portland Street, so delays on all eastbound
services. Further, I'd guess that when the trains do come through,
they'll be somewhat on the full side. "Thank you for your patience."
Well, we'll just wait and see. Pity. I was all set for a record
door-to-door time.
The empty train has just passed through Euston Square. Next train:
Aldgate 1 minute...
Oh, the humanity. I think I'll take my chances waiting another minute
for the next one.
Circle Line via KX... Here it comes... Much better. I can even stand
in comfort on this one. Don't know what it'll be like after KX.
Worse, but this isn't the worst trip I've ever been on. Oh no, indeed.
That was on the Sloop John B with my grandfather.
And so to Farringdon, where you will be saved any more of this drivel
if there's mobile signal at the platform. Have a great day, all.