Tag Archives: driving

Traffic terror on the A1 and a reunion with the Spice Girls (Rousse)

Posted on October 13, 2011 by Dreamaticus

The traffic on the A1 north of Newcastle was blocked solid. The only way you could now join the carriageway was to first reverse up the ramp, then continue along the hard shoulder backwards until you found a suitable spot … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged A1, accident, advice, bike, car, carriageway, chorus, cycle, cyclist, Deacon Blue, dead, death, drive, driving, fashion, field, grave, graves, hard shoulder, millionaire, Newcastle, Posh Spice, queue, ramp, reunion, Saturday, singing, song, Spice Girls, terror, TPR, traffic, Victoria Beckham | Leave a comment

Illegal clown disrupts travel plans (Rousse)

Posted on October 10, 2011 by Dreamaticus

We’d waited two hours at Digbeth coach station in Birmingham and still the 22:00 service to Edinburgh was not ready to depart. The tannoy announced that it would now leave at 02:00. This was far too late for us, so … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 22:00, Astra, Birmingham, bus, car, clown, costume, Digbeth, drive, driving, Edinburgh, GTE, late, rules, sequinned, sequins, shoes, staff, station, tannoy, TPR, work | Leave a comment

Rousse escapes the timetable but gets trapped by her past

Posted on October 9, 2011 by Dreamaticus

A timetabling mix-up meant that it was now up to me to entertain the final year students for two hours. I rummaged in the box of handouts that I had taken to the last class in the desperate hope that … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged age, autumn, cables, car, class, company, driving, electricity, escape, exercise, hall of residence, kiss, lane, lanes, Looe, material, open-top, pain, poke, ribs, road, roads, snog, sports car, student, students, timetable, timetabling, university, West Sussex, young | Leave a comment

Jools Holland, Danny Baker and strange events in London (Belle)

Posted on October 2, 2011 by Dreamaticus

The car was so old it had a split windscreen and cracked leather seats. I had no idea where it had come from, but even so I attempted to drive it at break-neck speed while seated in the passenger seat. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged boyfriend, car, cider, Conran, Danny Baker, driving, Grand Central Station, Islington, Jools Holland, London, parquet flooring, proposal, receptionist, revolving doors, statue, the City | Leave a comment

Graeme Garden’s elasticated stockings and a railway car chase (Rousse)

Posted on September 20, 2011 by Dreamaticus

Graeme Garden sat opposite me in the waiting area at BBC Radio 4 reception. He was my host for the day. On the basis of my impressive track record of developing panel games, I’d been summoned to help create three … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged adoption, BBC, Birmingham New Street, car, cars, cashmere, child, children, coat, coat rack, criminals, delay, driving, elasticated, game, games, getaway, Graeme Garden, hem, kid, kids, lavender, lorry, mini-skirt, miniskirt, naked, panel game, panel games, platform, police, rack, Radio 4, show, shows, skirt, station, stocking, stockings, TPR, train, underwear | 1 Comment

Nun murder: rally driver Rousse carries clues in her car

Posted on September 19, 2011 by Dreamaticus

I drove the red hire car like a maniac rally driver, screeching round corners and off-roading where necessary. This was not deliberate, but due to a lack of familiarity with the car’s controls. Shod in wellies, I also kept missing … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged accelerator, anorak, bay, body, boot, box, brake, camera, car, coast, conference, convent, corpse, dolphin, dolphins, driver, driving, folders, forestry, garden, MacBook, murder, nun, off-raoding, police, police officer, police officers, police woman, police women, policeman, policewoman, policewomen, rally, red, sea, shore, sister, track, walker, walkers, wellies, wellington boots, wellingtons | Leave a comment

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall – taxi driver (Rousse)

Posted on September 15, 2011 by Dreamaticus

How do you reach Glasgow – three hours away by road – for a focus group at 8pm, when it’s already 7pm? The answer: hire the world’s fastest taxi driver, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall! We all squeezed into the Range … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 4x4, audience, Camilla, car, conference, corduroy, drive, driving, Duchess of Cornwall, focus group, Glasgow, hat, performance, pink, Range Rover, reward, safety, taxi | Leave a comment

Number 26 bus to the rescue (Rousse)

Posted on August 24, 2011 by Dreamaticus

I went out drinking with TPR and his former colleague LC. They got so drunk that I was forced to confiscate LC’s car keys and shove the pair of them on the number 26 bus to get them home safely.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 26, bus, car. car keys, drink, drinking, driving, drunk | Leave a comment

Judy Garland learner driver (Rousse)

Posted on August 18, 2011 by Dreamaticus

Judy Garland failed her driving test and thus freed a slot for me to pass mine. This system operates to limit the number of new drivers on the road. Ordinary people earn their licence only on occasions when celebrities don’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged celebrities, celebrity, driving, driving licence, driving license, driving test, Judy Garland, licence, license, test | Leave a comment

Rousse’s travel trauma

Posted on August 8, 2011 by Dreamaticus

The up escalator confused everyone when it switched direction from up to down. Then someone knelt down, stroked the metal teeth from front to back, and travel upwards resumed once more. Later on KT and I were trying to get … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bus, crash, driving, escalator, forest, hill, Livingston, Peugeot 205, snow | Leave a comment