The day did not begin too auspiciously for Locky. We loaded the bags into the car and drove for Penrith
railway station. Unfortunately, he'd left his garage door wide open. There was no time to turn back though, one of the neighbours would have to sort it out.
Our first train would take us as far as Stafford, where we would change for Euston. I settled down to
read my book. Locky and Mike discussed the movie Dreamcatcher that they went to see a few weeks ago. This lead to an entire weekend of them responding to everything with the line "No bounce, no play"
We didn't bother finding our designated seats, especially as Mike hadn't booked ahead. Having more
money than God he is above such concerns. Consequently when the one-armed man turned up who's seat Mike had ensconced himself in, he made the poor guy feel really guilty and struggle off down the train to find somewhere else to sit. Mike almost made the situation far worse by asking him if he needed a hand getting his bag from the overhead compartment when we came to disembark.
"No bounce no play, Mike."
"No bounce no play, Locky"
Our train arrived in Stafford about a minute too late to catch the connecting one to Euston, so the announcer waited until we had gathered our bags and were waiting to get off to inform us that we would have to stay on until Wolverhamton. Me and Mike were fairly lucky to catch the train out of here, having gone to buy crisps on another platform. When we got back Locky had abandoned our bags and was already on the train.
The trip from Wolverhampton was more sociable, as we scored a table. This gave us a chance to play a little Jab-Jab. Jab-Jab is a card game taught to myself and Locky in Sydney by an erstwhile room-mate called Kevin.
Apparently it's a big gambling game in the Thailand and means "throw, throw". You play a series of hands, getting points when you lose, until you exceed 101, then you're out. Locky had enjoyed something of a winning streak when we were down under, and so had declared it a game of great skill.
Alas, his talent at being dealt good cards had abandoned him that day. Having been thoroughly whupped three times in the first four games Locky being Locky decided that it was because I wasn't playing the ballsy red-blooded seat-of-your-pants game that he was. Intrigued, Mike lowered his magazine and joined for the fifth game. I won again.
"Never underestimate the power of bitch-luck, Locky."
"No bounce no play, Mike."
"No bounce no play, Locky."
We arrived in Euston late, Locky actually looking as though he might win a second game. The driver apologised for the delay explaining rather hesitantly that it had been caused by "a road-vehicle and a rail bridge... colliding."
Those pesky rail bridges; they just come out of nowhere. Unaware of the mirth the driver was causing throughout the train, we pulled into Euston.
Gig had already been waiting at Euston about an hour-and-a-half, having been expecting us somewhat earlier. We had a couple of drinks in Coopers, a Burger King then out to St Albans where John lives. We just could not have timed it better to coincide the end-of-work rush hour. A few hot, cramped rides by tube and rail later we arrived at the sleepy backwater of St Albans, where John picked us up.
We had become seriously behind schedule at this stage, but still managed to get to Covent Gardens for about 8.30, where we met Ashleigh, a honey Locky used to work with. Roz and Sean arrived at the Nag's Head at same time as us. John's line manager from Q-branch joined too, to celebrate his wife's pregnancy. Quite how well that went down with his wife we'll never know.
"Darling, I have the most wonderful news. We're going to have a baby!"
"Wow. That is great news. I'll phone John to go out and celebrate."
