Good afternoon Bloggets. Oh, my word. I’m absolutely freezing. I have been in for half an hour and I can’t tell you what a blooming awful journey home we have had. Not that any words would describe just what a day we have had, I say day, Hub is OK.
me?
Our morning started off where we missed our bus by a couple of minutes. So, it was a long fifteen minutes before the next one, I say long, because it was so cold and a cross between rain and snow, so sleet fell heavy from the sky, beating an icy drum on us. A soft breeze blew but was full of bitter cold crushed ice.
Eventually our bus came. Warmth at last. Hmm. Not quite. There was no heat on in the bus and in the summer, it is blasting, but that was nothing to coming home later on in our day.
We got off the bus that wasn’t busy thankfully, and Hubs Little Fella did some great work. Bless him, he shivered all the way. Then to lay on a cold bus floor, but still, he worked so well and I was doing Okay until there were a load of people and I couldn’t use my white cane properly, there was no room at all to manoeuvre it to find where I needed to be and locate obstacles, so went slamming into a post. All in the day of getting around our town, without a guide dog My little Waggatail was in the house with Teen nice and warm. We need to live in a village for her to work. She is great locally but as you know, doesn’t do busy areas. I have always been told by Guide Dogs that I am a low user. A term I hate. Low user means I don’t travel on public transport to work and back every day, I don’t go to London and hop on and off the tube or just have to deal with noisy transport, so I get guide dogs that are happy to potter around. If I ever get another guide dog, and I’m told I have to have a dog that is fragile again, I will just do without because it’s not nice to get as stressed as I got today.
After the town, we headed back for our bus. Again, LF was amazing the new bus stop he has only done three times and it’s really difficult to locate, he went right up to it and Hub said that he put his nose on the post to signal where they were. The dog that is, not Hub… Posts are for me to put my nose on. Hahaha. Oh, the noise in the town was awful. They have built a block of flats or I guess they call them these days’ apartments, always been flats in England, and apartments in the US, but now we are calling them the American way. Well, haha, others are, me, nope, they are blooming flats. Why flats? Goodness knows as they are far from flat. The new block, is right where we stand for our bus home and they cost for a two bedroom… £1,000000. Looking out of the front of their windows they face onto a dreadful main road with busses every five minutes as well as emergency vehicles and all the normal cars as well as big motor bikes. I would hate that, wouldn’t you? And one million pounds? Oh my.
We waited ages for a bus. One came at last, on we got, hoping it would be ours as there were about three busses that pulled up but they went to different places. It wouldn’t be the first time we had caught the wrong one. Mind you, in the eight years Hub and I have been together, we have only caught the wrong bus twice. Almost three times if you count today?
There was a lovely friendly man on our bus who started to talk to us. He was so intelligent, saying he was from just outside London and was on his way to the hospital to visit someone. Then on came the regular. Oh heck, bless him. He seems to live his life on a bus. Usually our, bus. He talks to everyone and when no one speaks to him, he talks to himself. Only problem is, I can’t understand him. It’s so sad as he tries to chat to everyone and anyone on the bus, and no one wants to talk to him. But this lovely man from London, oh bless him, he was on the same seat as him. So, no escape. Well, he spoke that much that the man ended up getting off too early. Having said that what would normally take us twenty five minutes to get back, took today, fifty. I was shivering. It was cold and wet and no heating on the bus and I stupidly wore a waterproof jacket rather than a winter coat. Why did it take so long? Hmm. Who knows only I think our driver was new and should be took off the road. He was driving as slow as possible and kept stopping asking his radio questions. Whilst he waited for an answer, he pulled to one side so we were stuck in traffic that is what it was like.
One time we stood still for over seven minutes. Anyway, loads of people got off at one stop. Hub asked me why I thought they were all getting off? Long and short of it was the driver went the wrong way home and we did wonder how we weren’t recognising our location? It wasn’t turning where it should and we didn’t go over the rough road or the tiny round about. Well, we had passed our stop by two stops and had to stay on the bus and get off on the next stop as the bus started to head back into town.
As we stepped off the forever bus, the sounds were so foreign. We were in a totally different area as far as we knew. The sleet was lashing down, the roads were louder than normal and my bones were chilled. Our poor dog was even wet and still shivering. Well, where were we? The driver was absolutely hopeless. I wonder if he was really a learner? If so, he should stick to a push bike.
I told Hub we were so lost, he said no, he knew where we were? Well, we turned left, we found a bus shelter, I asked if it was the one near the Doctors? No, Hub replied, we came to a kerb. Was this a small side road or a blooming huge serious road? Well, we wouldn’t know really until we crossed it. We waited until we couldn’t hear any cars too near and crossed and hoped.
No middle islands thank goodness. So not a major road. We seemed to walk slightly to the left, oh no, there were cars coming to the left heading towards us, and then there were cars coming along next to us quick, get to a path? Where was the path? Hub calmly asked LF to find the kerb. Sometimes there isn’t one what if it was a roundabout?
On a kerb, but it was grass. Oh gosh. Already I was in a state. We kept walking until we found a path and Hub kept saying he knew where he was? Well, how come I didn’t I hadn’t been there in my life. Hub laughed and said that is what I said the last time I had been there. Now he was being flippant. He was lost and getting us more lost by walking in my opinion in the wrong direction to where our street was.
Another road, another different sound. Then Hub said we were at the park passing by the zoo no monkeys out there today. But we weren’t. I know we were heading towards destination unknown.
There were huge open spaces. I obviously can’t see anything just can hear traffic and I felt so sick. Standing at another crossing then a harsh right turn. Why right? Oh, the path was so narrow at this point. Hub was way ahead of me now, he had to keep stopping until I caught up. Walking with our guide dogs is so much faster than a white cane. Oh, hang on, I smelt a shrub in the air that I smell all winter, was it the same one?
The path was different though I still didn’t know where I was.
Then a door of a house closed. Oh wow, please let that be the oddly sounding door I have heard many times on my journeys? But then another strange road to cross. I was dizzy. The world was trying to eat me up. The fear was awful my heart was pounding. I wanted to cry we were so lost. Hub was so chilled. That wasn’t helping normally if we are in town, it’s him who stresses and me who is calm, I guess that is why we are so good for each other, as if we both were to be anxious, it would be dangerous. Haha.
Well slam again, my stick this time wacked a metal box. What was it? Hub was silent, where was he? Oh, gosh had I lost him? Also, he didn’t have his phone as I asked him in town, I like to know he has it so if we do get separated, we can call each other and he told me he forgot it.
You will not believe this? I was actually around the corner from our street. Gosh that box I knew. Thank goodness for that. We got home into the warmth and I was in so much shock with our journey which is normally so easy.
Two cups of tea later I’m still shattered emotionally and totally drained Hub is yawning and Little Fella is fast asleep in bed. Little Wagga is next to him in his bed, not hers, she was so glad to see him. Teen said she cried at the door when we were away, Teen tried to play with her toys to make her happy but she didn’t want to know.
I did have a lovely ending though, more on that later, but seriously, what should have took one and a half hours today took three hours and ten minutes. Bring on a cure please for vision? It’s dangerous out there. Haha. But again, we did it, we are back safely thanks to LF and Hub today that is for sure. X
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