Another Day Another Dollar

I'm glad to say my little family arrived back safely from their trip to Canada. The little twins were totally hyper, wanting to tell us all about everything they have been doing. They've adjusted back to the time difference quite quickly though there were a few groans in the morning.

Yesterday, I went and did a day's supply teaching at a school just half an hour from here. I actually quite enjoyed it, which is a strange thing to admit. Maybe it was because I was relaxed and not stressed about getting a job. I really am crap at interviews. Anyway, in the absence of an interview, the school liked me too, and have offered me two terms work, covering a maternity leave. That's good news for us on a number of levels.

The obvious one, is that come the end of April we'll be able to buy some heating fuel. On the down side, it will be warm enough so that we don't need it by then, but hey, beggars can't be choosers. It will still be a bonus to have running hot water.

The more subtle benefit is that I will be able to see if it is teaching per se that is the problem or just the school I was in, that caused the stress levels to be unbearable. I don't remember being unhappy working as a teacher before the last school I was in. Tired, yes, but unhappy? No. We'll have to see how two terms pans out.

Bridge near the Severn Valley Railway

On a totally different note, it has been chaos getting around due to the roadworks. Seriously, the centre of Bewdley has been dug up completely since January and is not due to be filled in until May. They are replacing all the pipes under the street, but because of the river, the only place to cross leads right onto the main street. All other roads also pass around the church in the middle of town. They have 4-way traffic lights on the incoming roads and it can take twenty minutes to pass through the town centre, because there is no way around it.

The centre of Bewdley

Then to add to the fun, there are roadworks up in Callow Hill which we have to pass through, then another set down by the Safari Park, which is also a major route. Finally, to add to the circus, they have decided to replace all the pavements outside our house this week, meaning the entrance to our drive is currently half way along a convoy between two sets of temporary traffic lights.

Now how do I get into my drive?

I suppose I should be grateful that they are timed traffic lights. The roadworks at Callow Hill have a pair of youths with STOP/GO signs. One of them wears a hoodie and dark glasses like some sort of rapper gangsta, but with a high vis fluorescent jacket to ruin his street cred. Due to lack of communication, the youths both had their signs on GO last time I tried to get through. I ended up facing a confused looking driver coming the other way, as we both tried to squeeze through the gap between the cones and the hedge. You just can't get the staff.