Monday 10 October 2011

Summer/Autumn Cruise 2011 (Week 8)

Summer/Autumn Cruise 2011 (Week 8)

Monday October 10th
Eastwood Moorings
Day 50

Up early as the crew arrived to move the Humber Princess. Even though it was still pitch dark no effort was spared to make as much noise as possible. In this way, everyone else on the mooring was invited to watch their departure.

I was invited by the Memsahib to join her on a trip to the shops at Parkgate retail park. First stopping off at Morrisons Supermarket for lunch. A quick scan of the menu and we decided that the Lancashire Hotpot was to be our choice for the day. It is a busy supermarket and so we had to wait quite a while before our meal was delivered to the table. It looked to be very tasty with mushy peas and a good helping of chips. The chips and peas were piping hot however the misnamed hotpot by contrast was almost frozen.

The Memsahib sent the food back, some half hour later our replacements arrived. The difference this time was that everything was now hot. Now call me old fashioned if you must, but I did expect a simple apology. Nothing, nada, zilch. The replacement food was delivered in total silence and the member of staff melted away into the background.

This started a conversation between us over the hotpot. The outcome of our deliberations was “for Morrisons” to offer an apology of any kind would have been an admission of fault. A bit like a “Beware of the Dog” sign is an admission of owning a dangerous animal.

So to the corporate powers at Morrisons Supermarket we award the Rose of Arden Mediocre Service Award at Gold Standard.

We then returned back to the boat in a shower of rain. It was good to get inside and enjoy the warmth of the stove once more. I had purchased a copy of the Waterways World Annual 2011 and also a copy of Canal Boat to keep me entertained.

More black clouds were building on the horizon and the strength of the wind was doing the same. Soon afterwards our mooring neighbours were on their way to look for a more sheltered place along the river. We waved them goodbye as they made their way to the lock to fill up the water tank before departing towards Doncaster.

The rest of the day was spent reading and otherwise relaxing with just the occasional visit outside with the dogs to give them a bit of exercise and to do what dogs do. In the evening the Memsahibs sister Helen and husband Brian came for a visit. All to soon it was time for them to leave and as we had been up early to witness the departure of the Princess, we decided to retire early for the night.

It was another night for bats to stay home.

Daily Total
Distance: 0 Miles.
Locks: 0
Swing / Lift Bridges: 0
Tunnels: 0
Pump Outs: 0
Engine Hours: 1965.8

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