Where is the Fat Controller?

Another weekend down and we say goodbye to March 2007. I know people said that a year would go fast but it is hard to believe that a quarter of the year is over already. With Kathy and the kids here we are starting to plan our trips a bit more. London and Paris in the next few weeks, France in June, Scotland and Ireland in August and lots more trips to the north will see the rest of the year fly by.

This weekend was a quick trip to Swanage and a chance for the kids (that’s me) to enjoy a ride on a steam train. Now I must admit I am not a major train buff but the smell of burning coal, the puffs of steam billowing into the sky and the unique whistle sounding across the countryside was rather fun.

So what does a train buff look like?. I don’t think it is related to the English train driver that was sacked after stripping off while at the controls of a 125mph express on a Sheffield to London route. The driver was thought to have used his mobile to take a naked picture of himself and sent the photo to a colleague, who alerted bosses.

I must say I was looking for the characters that were in Trainspotting, the movie about a group of heroin addicts in Edinburgh and their passage through life, but mostly the characters there on the weekend seemed to have the following defining characteristics: 1 themos, 1 large camera strung around ones neck, hair swept casually over ones bald patch, a small note pad with listings of every type of loco on the planet from the 5059 steam Locomotive to the classic 31 Diesel, and a constant desire to lick ones pencil.

Anyway – managed to keep the kids away from most of them and they enjoyed waving to everyone out the window - well mostly cows in the fields actually – but everyone had a good time.

Only ¾ of the year to go.