29th April 2012

While Jamie has been basking abroad and celebrating his birthday, we’ve had relentless rain. My morning bike rides have been more “cyclo-cross” than cycling, and even when I’ve tried to find dry routes, I’ve returned looking as if I’d wrestled a hippo in a swamp. Sue and I had planned to join a council walk last week, but it was cancelled when the paths began to resemble the Somme.

Sarah has been buried in her assignments, emailing them to me for review. She’s ahead of schedule, so she took a day off to swim and endure a four-hour gym session. Charlotte has now joined the gym too for “bums and tums” classes and signed up for a rounders team, though every practice so far has been rained off.

Last Tuesday evening. I met with Bridget to discuss a workplace grievance procedure she is bringing against a colleague. She asked me to represent her, which I agreed to do. After an hour of talking through the situation, I drove to Rothwell to see Suraj and the boys, delivering a friend’s poorly functioning laptop for his expert attention. I stayed for half an hour before continuing to Stansted to collect Jamie and Harley. The drive was easy, and the flight landed 30 minutes early, and despite their travel fatigue, they were chatty on the way back, full of tales from their trip. I dropped them at Jamie’s apartment just after midnight.

Back home, I was greeted by the sound of water dripping through the ceiling, a surprise for both me and Sue. We set up a bucket and called it a night. The next morning, still in monsoon conditions, I traced the leak in the attic to what had become a small indoor pond. Towels and another bucket went into action.

While waiting for the rain to let up, I made a video of Jamie’s holiday photos. By Wednesday, it was still hammering down, but I braved the weather to attend Bridget’s grievance hearing. It went well, with some sensible proposals put forward, including the radical idea of actually talking to each other before firing off formal complaints. Sue had been called in to cover a shift at Church Langton, which turned into a full day.

Friday night brought a splendid curry after Lucas’s football practice, followed by The Avengers at the cinema with Suraj and Jamie. It was gloriously daft, spectacular fights, absurd plot twists, and more laughs than expected.

Saturday morning brought a rare break in the rain. Sue took the chance to hang out the washing, and I scrambled up onto the roof to confirm my suspicion of a cracked tile. I dug out some waterproofing materials from the garage and began repairs, but halfway through, the drizzle returned. I sealed the crack, but then discovered that getting down from a slippery, wet roof is far harder than getting up. After a few failed attempts, I swallowed my pride and called Jamie.

Half an hour later and thoroughly soaked, he turned up after first deciding to fill his car with petrol. I was grateful for his help (he could have come quicker), not least because heights aren’t his favourite thing. Once safely back on solid ground and in dry clothes, I headed to the club to catch a Leicestershire county cricket match.

Now, as I sit here with the wind howling, rain battering the windows, and my fingers going numb, I can’t help but think that in less than 24 hours, we will be making our way to Heathrow. Outside, the river is swollen and angry, and the cold cuts straight through you. Presently, in Borneo, it’s currently a tropical 35°C.  We will be somewhere warm, with no need for buckets in the attic, unless it’s for iced cocktails. For now, though, I’m still in woolly jumper mode.