I’ll take the rain

‘Turning further every day’ Weezer – The world has turned and left me here

Northampton didn’t turn out to be so bad. I mean Silverstone was great, if I could afford it I’d go to every single GP, but even seeing my grandad wasn’t so bad for Duncan. We got to Silverstone on Friday night after a lot of heavy traffic on the M1. I got to drive a brand new Peugeot 307, which was a dream, power steering, air con, 5th gear, perfect functioning everything – everything my car wasn’t basically. We managed to put the tent up first time and without looking like complete novices, which is always good. By that time it was 9pm and we decided instead of walking round trying to find the nearest pub we would just crash in preparation for the following day, which is a good idea considering we slept so badly that night. I don’t function well without a nice, thick, comfy mattress.

On Saturday we made the supposedly 30 minute straight forward walk to the circuit (more like 45 minutes and in a kind of circle round the track, I’m sure there was a quicker way!) and tried to find a good seat. We got there around 9am, but there were people who’d clearly been there since 6am when the circuit opened. We sat on Copse Corner (which is the first corner from the start) to watch the first free practice of the day, before walking slowly round the track and watching second free practice near Becketts corner. We then checked out our grandstand for the following day (uncovered, great when it rained!) and continued to walk round the track. We managed to find ourselves a space at the front for qualifying so watched from along the start/finish straight. The one thing we both agreed on was that the cars seemed smaller than when watching on tv. The whole morning had been dull and cloudy, but during practice it must have brightened up because when it finished we both became aware of hot it was suddenly – and we both ended up with very red faces (which look so attractive when peeling a few days later!). We decided to head back to the tent and grab a little sleep before going into Northampton for the family visit. (More on that afterwards).

I was woken on Sunday at around 5am by the sound of traffic and helicopters. Want to know why there was no traffic problems this year? Because a) they limited the amount of tickets sold to 60,000 (about half I think), b) everyone set off ridiculously early to make sure they missed the traffic and c) too many people came by helicopter. They even cancelled the Red Arrows display so that all the helicopters could arrive. I could go on about rich people and free tickets on corporate sponsership, but I won’t. Anyway, we got to the track around 9am again and decided to buy a cap/t-shirt before taking our seats. Duncan got the cap he wanted, but the t-shirt I wanted had mysteriously disappeared, only to be replaced by more expensive stuff, so I decided not to bother. We were sat in the Hangar straight grandstand, with, I think, everyone else who bought their tickets through Boots (we all had the same set of binoculars!) and were treated to one of the most exciting races I’ve seen in a long time. The rain, although soaking us (and there was no putting up the umbrella we’d bought, as the people behind then wouldn’t be able to see), made it all the more exciting and we laughed as both McLaren and Williams stuffed up the pit stops making it an easy in for Schumacher and a fantastic drive from 21st to 2nd for Rubens. All in all, the result we wanted. Once over we headed back to the car and drove home, taking only 15 minutes maximum to get out to the M1 and only being slowed down on the way back by the numerous caravans that had chosen sunday afternoon and the M1 to make their journey home from wherever.

As for visiting my grandad, it wasn’t as bad as I expected. Chris was down last month and treated to diatribes from my grandad, uncle and dad about terrorism, immigrants and gypsies, amongst other topics, and I feared the same. However, my dad didn’t bother to come along, my uncle was too busy out drinking with someone else, so the three of us went out for dinner and a chat and we left around 9. My grandad said he liked Duncan, and asked how serious it was, we popped in to see my cousin and I was asked when we would be getting married so my cousin could be my bridesmaid (not a chance!) but all in all there were no cringeworthy moments. I was impressed.

It’s the first time I’ve been to visit since my gran died (3 years next month), and I’m not sure what I expected. Nothing in the house has changed and I kept expecting her to come in from the kitchen with home-made cakes, biscuits, offering us tea, or standing there doing the ironing. It was hard.

Since the weekend we have done little, both being broke beyond belief. We are umming and ahhing over scrapping our Leeds festival plans in favour of a long bank holiday weekend in London with more money for alcohol and chinese food. Will let you know when we decide to pay the south a visit again. Other than that, I have applied for a couple of jobs, one with a freelance option, and am finding work is getting more dull by the day. I go in at 9, work for about 2 hours maximum and then twiddle my thumbs all day for lack of anything to do. There has to be something more than this, right?

Until there is a next time…

xx