A Pocket History of the Last Few Weeks

“What’s it got in its pocketses?”

It might have been a life changing question for Bilbo Baggins in the book “The Hobbit”, but for me it’s just a bit of trivia that says something about what I have been up to recently and other things

Tissues – I sneeze a lot. I was amazed to discover that most people don’t. I find that until I have sneezed at least half a dozen times in the morning I am not really awake. Some might suggest that I must have a allergy to something – being awake, perhaps?

A used ticket for Glasgow’s underground trains – the system is called the Clockwork Orange. It’s the Metro in miniature! The trains are short, the platforms are short and the list of stations along the line is also short! It is less busy than the underground at London, less threatening. I seem to remember many years ago having my purse stolen on the London underground somewhere between Walthamstow and Covent Garden.

A new AA membership card – I have been with them for nine years according to my card. A good investment considering the number of times that I have called the out. It has usually been about flat batteries having left the lights on too long. The last flat battery incident was Easter time. We were on our way to visit the folks in Englandshire and had stopped off at Pitlochry for breakfast. The lights were not on for long, but enough to drain the battery. The AA card was not in the purse and I approached a wee man who had pulled up to recycle old newspapers and bottles at the far end of the car park. He went home to get his jump leads! What a nice man!

A stone – it is very glittery. It looks dull when it is out of the light. I picked it up on a recent walk through the Glenmore forest. I know that some places tell you not to take things home with you. It’s not as if it’s a fossil, or a semi precious gem – it’s just a small stone.

A green pen – it’s actually a blue pen. I thought it would be green. I bought a pack of them – a blue, black, red and green one thinking that the outside of the pen mattered. I go through red pens quite rapidly. However, whatever the outside colour of the pen, they all turned out to be blue pens – even the black one was blue.

£1.61p in change – I have no idea why such a specific amount. The penny is probably picked up off the floor. I used to walk with my head down looking for dropped pennies – then I decided that was no way to walk anywhere – looking down at the ground. It was too earth-bound a posture, so I stopped doing it.

A maroon coloured toy car – I bet you don’t have one of those in your pocket! Last week we went to a Quiz night organised by my husband’s work. I go to so many of their socials now that I am sure people are wondering whereabouts in the office my desk is. It was a quiz based on TV Quiz shows. Everyone in the team got to fly solo. I represented my team in the “Catchphrase” round. Our team got the overall biggest score in the end, but chose not to gamble thinking we were far enough in front not to be caught. We came second, another team gambled and got ten extra points, and our consolation prizes were the toy cars

My new Bingo card - there are too many plastic cards issued for various things. I think someone ought to implement hand prints, or thumb prints or iris scanners.

A restaurant receipt – The big multiplex cinema is very picky about what films it will show. There may be dozens of screens, but most of them show the same latest box office hit and the not so mainstream films get elbowed out. Eden Court cinema tends to pick them up. Eden Court has been upgraded. The new cinema is very plush. The seats are so soft and not numb bumming at all. We went to the restaurant first. It was very nice, but we didn’t have enough time for desert! The film was full of moral dilemma and not the least easy watch!

A hairdressing appointment card – I got my hair done seeing as we are going away on holiday. My natural shade is grey – but my husband thinks that there is no need to stay grey when there is a huge variety of bottles and lotions available! I used to be dark brown –very dark brown. The salon has changed hands. The new lady uses different colours. In between colouring and cutting and blow-drying my hair she was fielding phone-calls. Apparently the previous manager didn’t pay people and has left a string of debts which the new manager is having to sort out. Despite the distractions I came out looking passable – the cut is nice (how long will it take to for the side parting to sneak into the middle?), the colour is a bit too dark.

A badge – a ceramic pink tartan ribbon thing in aid of the Scottish Breast Cancer Scheme. It appeared in my pigeon hole at work during one theses raising awareness weeks. The only significant thing I have noticed about that part of my anatomy (or those parts seeing as there is more than one of them) is that they are definitely not pert! Gravity has taken its toll!