Potentially awkward moment

There are some conversations that you never imagine you might have and due to a strange combination of circumstances I had one of those on Sunday with Mrs Brinkster.

On Sunday we decided to get over the depressing news that yet another charity shop is opening in Worcester Park on Central Road by heading off into London into London and indulging one of my occasional TV pastimes, that of motor racing. The A1GP tour had closed off Lower Regent Street and the kids were entertained by "Roary the racing car" and by seeing their faces 30 feet high on the enormous jumbotron screen while I tried my hand at the pitstop challenge and gawped at the cars.

More gawping was going on around me though as many men present took advantage of the curious and illogical penchant of motoring manufacturers thinking that the best way to showcase the modern motoring marvel that is a racing car it to surround it with women in provocatively unsuitable clothing (comment here). As a result men of varying age and physique were lining up to have their photos taken with the "Grid Girls" in a display of almost unabashed drooling.

It was as we reached the Canadian car that the lady (above) seemed somewhat familiar to me and when she spotted me she smiled broadly, stepped forward and planted a peck on my cheek. I introduced her to the Brinkster Clan and we chatted animatedly for a while before I led the Clan off in search of more entertainment, at which point Mrs Brinkster said.................

....."And......errr........ how do you know her exactly?"

(she was a member of our party on Wednesday night [see previous post])

For the record, my pit stop challenge time didn't win me a prize [boo]

Friday update

I notice that the old "Worcester Supermarket" (aka "The shortest lived shop in Worcester Park") which disappeared almost exactly a year ago is being refitted in anticipation of something new going in. I haven't heard any rumours on the breeze so anyone want to hazard any guesses as to what it's going to be?


The younger part of the Brinkster Clan tried out Papa Johns in my absence on Tuesday and really enjoyed it. They went into the store, watched the pizzas being made and were generally made a fuss of so thought it was the best thing.

My absence was caused by this week's annual work event that causes me to relax my general rule about never drinking vodka with Russian 'officials', and then spending the next few days wondering why I thought it might be a good idea to relax that rule. Still, I managed to get across London on 'autopilot' and get home safely complete with all of my possessions, which rates as some kind of acheivement in my book.

I'll be making the most of tomorrow's promised good weather to tackle the garden at Brinkster Central and then take a trip to the dump to avoid paying the £35 that Sutton Council now think we ought to pay for having garden rubbish collected......

Papa Johns is open!

Long ago in the cold and frosty month of November I blogged that Worcester Park was to have it's own Papa Johns pizza and on the way home from the station I saw that it's now open, which Mrs Brinkster assures me it wasn't earlier today.

As you can see from the picture their number is 0208 335 0335 and if you do give them a try before I get the chance then let me know what it's like.

The Litter of the Law

Mrs Brinkster reported to me that Central Road was awash yesterday with portable yellow signs threatening dire retribution, in the form of £80 on the spot fines, for those who transgressed the law of the land by dropping chewing gum, cigarette butts, KFC wrappers and litter of any form. To back up the yellow signs there was a regiment of Community Police (Bill Bryson's Private Army?) who spent some time patrolling Central Road, no doubt attempting to enforce things, and then disappeared as mysteriously as they'd arrived, taking their yellow signs with them and leaving Worcester Park without a trace of them ever being there.

And the point was????

Marathon and missing moggy

Buoyed up by a hearty breakfast the Brinkster clan watched the start of the London Marathon on TV and then decided to head into London to watch the end of it. We arrived at Waterloo about the same time as the first huge rain shower and we took refuge in the London Eye to get a good view of both the inclement weather and the athletes on the other side of the Thames. It had stopped raining by the time got off so we found ourselves a perch on the Embankment by Westminster after the 25 mile mark and cheered and clapped anybody that went past. We saw Michel Roux ("chef" emblazoned across his shirt) but failed to spot Gordon Ramsay, who wasn't too far behind him although spotting people in the mass of runners was nigh on impossible once large numbers started coming in. There were lots of people dressed up, including a few Borat "man-kinis"and about eight Fred Flintstones plus the inevitable Batmen Supermen/Girls and the like so the little Brinksters spent the entire time cheering and revelling in the atmosphere.

There were a few injuries where people had obviously slipped in the earlier rain and had their cuts patched up and there were more bleeding nipples in evidence than on an average evening out with Max Mosley. One poor soul we saw had come a cropper just after where we were in the second downpour and was being lifted into an ambulance......... 25+ miles but no finish......... I'd be gutted.

In the masses on the Embankment I didn't manage to spot Worcester Park's own Steve, running with the Logica Flyers, who finished in 4h 14min which is an outstanding effort and if you haven't sponsored anyone you can still support him online. Mrs Brinkster was enthused by the whole occasion and seems to be trying to persuade me to enter to take part next year......... but I'm not convinced........ my only forms of exercise are jumping to conclusions and running out of ideas.....

We got home tired, wet and cold (tho' nothing compared to the runners) but very happy having had a great time so if your only experience of the London Marathon is watching it on TV, like me, then I'd thoroughly recommend that next time you go up to London and join in the fun!!

In news totally unrelated to the Marathon Rachel Lockhart's cat has disappeared and she'd like help getting it back. For those who don't know Rachel runs the "Worcester Park Appreciation Group" on Facebook and reported last night that her moggy (below) has gone missing.

If you do see the cat above looking lost in the Worcester Park area please do get in touch with Rachel at rlockhart[at]hotmail[dot]co[dot]uk.

Whew.... managed to get through that without making any "Mrs Slocomb/Are You Being Served" type jokes.

South West Strange?

Part of my morning routine is to turn on the computer and, with mug of tea in hand, check the weather forecast for the day (BBC and Metcheck) and check the National Rail website to make sure that the trains are running before I set off down the hill for the station, which is a habit that has saved me much inconvenience on numerous occasions. Normally the National Rail web people contain themselves to reporting on the South West Trains services which are currently running and leave the forecasting to the weather people but this week they've taken to the prognostication business with some gusto by reporting all trains to London Waterloo in the future as being "On Time".


This means I can set off for work safe in the knowledge that there can be no delays as National Rail have declared it so and that no disaster, be it natural or man-made, can possibly interfere with the timely running of the trains.

Now that's customer service...............

And there's still time to support Steve's marathon effort!!

A marathon challenge

It's nearly that time of year where several thousand (fool)hardy souls pound the streets in that annual event known as the London Marathon. Many do so for charity and the thought of a shiny medal at the finishing line is made even more appealing by the thought that others will be helped because of their efforts. If you'd like to support someone in the marathon but don't know anyone who's running then let me point you in the direction of Worcester Park resident Steve, who was out training yesterday morning while I was out throwing snowballs. He makes up a quarter of the "Logica Flyers" who are aiming to raise £7,000 for the Down's Syndrome Association and if you want to read more about their endeavour and pledge some money then go here.

In case you hadn't noticed

It's snowing.

The Brinksters are already back from a foray out to Nonsuch Park and the little Brinksters are now parked in front of a blazing fire with the Peter Pan movie on the TV. It didn't seem to be settling on the roads or pavements much first thing this morning:

But no such problem in the park!!

Has to be the most snow we've had in years!!

Right on cue

There seems to have been precious little to post this week that hasn't already been posted elsewhere and it does seem to have been a quiet week in Worcester Park in general.

Coming home late(r) last night I saw that the shop squeezed between "Hair by Fiko" and "Cuppaholic" had the shutters up and a handful of computer boxes were inside (I'm assuming they contained computers....) so I'd like to think that this means the imminent opening of some new Worcester Park retail/service establishment........ so I eagerly await developments.

From Google Blogsearch I found that someone's been mocking a Worcester Park resident about his alleged dislike of Frasier. Whether said person actually exists or not is another question but it'd be strange to pick on Worcester Park for such satire when we have such local characters as Hotmog to keep us going with the "Post pictures of your cue" thread on the The Snooker Forum and a link to his extensive collection of "Victorian Breweriana", which to my uninitiated eye seems like a strange and unusual passion to have.......... until I remember that I take photos of Worcester Park.......... meh

and click here - http://worcesterpark.myminicity.com