I take a dog to work this week. I know it’s not the right time. ‘Take a dog to work’ day is actually supposed to happen in June.
However, this week we really have no option. The chief is away taking pictures on high hills. He has the oldest dog with him, but there is no room in a tent for two Naughties.
So, off to the office we set, Rummie the Norfolk now shivering with a mix of excitement and fear. He has never been in a city in his life and this will be a test of metal and manners. He has also never before travelled on a train and is already suspicious of noise and smells. His normally wagging tail is ram-rod straight as the iron horse of progress comes thundering into the station.
All goes well until the little dog almost falls between the gap between platform and loco at Edinburgh’s Waverley. Thankfully he is on a lead, so I am able to pull him back up from the void. I still have nightmares thinking of the capital’s main transport hub grinding to a halt: “we are sorry to inform you that all trains are delayed because of a little dog on the line…”
Talking of getting into a hole, reaching the station is a trial in itself. We know that the rain has played havoc with Scotland’s roads, particularly those smaller, rural ones. Potholes are springing up left, right and centre, and it often means having to drive in the middle of the route to avoid the wretched things: which is fine, as long as no-one coming in the opposite direction is doing the same thing…
I report these lethal water-filled fissures from time to time to the relevant authorities. But it appears you have to be able to prove that they are at least the size of a dustbin lid before anyone will come out to sort them. Who carries a dustbin lid around in their car, for goodness sake?
Potholes rule. Two out of five motorists have had their cars damaged by them. Forty percent of non-trunk roads are in need of repair. In Devon they have nicknamed one monster hole the ‘Swimming Pool’. I’ve seen a picture of it on the internet and it’s a whopper. You could get a small car stuck in there.
In their defence councils say they just don’t have the money to carry out the necessary repairs. Moreover, I know that if it’s a choice between funding a care home, or tarmacking a road, elderly and disadvantaged folk will always win – and so they should.
Perhaps we could be issued with repair units – rather like those useful bicycle tyre kits. ‘Fix a pothole today’ could be a new motoring motto, although I don’t recommend it with all that traffic whizzing by. No, leave it to the experts. I just hope they do something soon, as poor old Rummie would much rather travel by car than train…
