Saturday

It was just another Saturday morning.

Due to an enormously complicated set of logistics, hubby and I swap cars on a Saturday morning and then swap back again on Saturday afternoon.

Get into the car. Fuel gauge empty. Decide to fill up at Ross on Wye about 20 minutes or so away, en route. Go off quite happily, checking to see how many magpies are around, to see what sort of day I can expect. See a complete flurry, so not sure what that means.

Get to petrol station. Eventually find pump on the right side for the filler cap. Open up flap. See lock on cap. Where did that come from? Look at key fob. No matching key. Call hubby to ask where lock appeared from and where matching key exists.

Disembodied voice appears from nowhere. "Turn off your mobile phone". Very irritating as can't hear what hubby is trying to say to me. "Turn off your mobile phone". Look up and see that disembodied voice belongs to someone sitting about 10 feet away from me. Guess that large disembodied voice has more dramatic impact than talking to me. Finally realise that hubby has said that he will come down to petrol station with key.

Need to make more phone calls, so move off pumps to save offending disembodied voice more.

Call drama teacher who give lift to. Mobile phone switched off. Call her partner. "Oh she always has her phone switched off. If you are really late, she'll turn it on to call me". Leave appropriate message so that when I am really late, and she does phone partner she will know to drive very quickly to final destination as no-one will be at the school to let the children in. Send text message, just in case when, being very late, she turns in phone to call partner and sees message. Then call different teacher to ask them to open up school.

Hubby arrives looking flustered. Grumbles about disembodied voice on pump. Being a government boffin type he mutters something about the fact that they hide the masts in petrols stations, so as not to deface the countryside further. "Don't they know that it is more dangerous to turn on your engine than to use a mobile phone?" Very apologetic to me. Had had to change the filler cap when he had had it serviced as last one was deemed illegal. Forgot to tell me, give me key or change keys this morning. Eldest daughter in car with hubby. Looking very serene and happy despite having by now missed first dance lesson (Eldest daughter is keen and able dancer and very anxious not to miss any lessons). Will possibly complain later. We'll see.

Fill up car. Go to kiosk to pay. "So why did you leave the other filler on the floor?" She asks. Sorry I say, slightly baffled. "Oh it's all right, we've put it back now". What other filler? I say. "Number 7" she says. But I used number 6. I say. "Yes, but number 7 was left on the ground." But that wasn't me. I say. "Oh, I see" she says, in a slightly disapproving manner, only reserved for people you really don't want to agree with, but don't want to go into full scale battle with either. Go back to car muttering about being nice to be believed.

Look at clock. Is is really only ten past nine?

Let's just hope the rest of the day bodes better!