On the last day of July 2013 another of those early starts I don’t like all that much saw me clean, dressed and in the kitchen washing up whilst preparing my breakfast smoothie when Commando came in. Mind you, my eyes were barely open at the time. The weatherman had lied. My phone weather app had lied too, it and the weather map were filled with happy little sunshine symbols. It didn’t look very sunny outside to me so I took my canvas jacket and my beret. Good job too because no sooner had I shut the door behind me than it started to rain.
31 July 2013
It was another wet start and the bees were having a field day on the lavender by my gate. Funnily, it stopped just as I reached the office and the sun came out in an approximation of all those little sunshine symbols on the weather map. Maybe if I just stayed indoors we’d have a wonderful summer. Because I knew there wasn’t going to be much time to go rhino hunting later, thanks to Arabella’s presence and a ton of stuff to get through, I thought I’d capture today’s rhino on the way to work. Of course this meant he was rather a wet rhino but beggars can’t be choosers.
For once I knew exactly where he was, I’d passed him a few times but not had the opportunity to stop and take his photo. He stands on the pavement a little way down from the Marlands shopping mall, quite close to where the original Dream Factory offices used to be. It’s usually a very crowded area, hard to stop and get a good photo. At seven thirty in the morning though it was deserted, more or less.
Back in the day Gigi and I often met on the way to the office and walked through the parks together along here. I guess those were our first ever walks to work together. She worked in the basement on one side of the building, loving called the smelly dungeon because it was dark, damp and the manager had a slight personal hygiene issue. I worked on the ground floor on the other side, we even had a proper window with a view of the street!
The rhino is called Where’s Ralph and he’s number fifteen. Where’s Ralph is sponsored by Marwell Zoo, the creators of the Go Rhinos project and he is a tribute to a special Marwell resident, Ralph the Humboldt penguin. Poor old Ralph, looses his feathers every year before all the other penguins, leaving him a tad chilly and sad. The team at O’Neil, who make wet suits came to the rescue with a custom made penguin wet suit for him. How cute! I stole a photo from the Go Rhinos website for you.
Where’s Ralph was the clever creation of Tom Joyce, a local illustrator who works mostly in pen and ink creating comical, nature filled pictures of incredible complexity. Looking at his website makes me want to own one of his drawings, they are certainly something you’d never tire of looking at. Just like Where’s Wally, whose books my boys used to love, this is a puzzle rhino. If you look very, very closely at my photo, you will be able to spot Ralph amongst all the other penguins. Be warned, it took me ages!
From rhino to coffee in a few short steps, I popped into the Starbucks Just along the street. This is the Starbucks I usually meet Panda in and I kind of wished I was meeting her for a coffee and a chat this morning rather than going to work. The shop was more or less empty which should have been good news for me. Sadly it wasn’t. There was just one member of staff and she was busy doing some cleaning. “I’ll be with you in a minute,” she said. Not quite what I wanted to hear when I had to get to work.
Eventually she took my order but by then three other customers had come in and were jigging about waiting to be served. Rather then make my coffee she took their orders while I stood wishing I hadn’t bothered. Finally someone else came from the back of the shop to help but by then she’d forgotten what I’d ordered and had to ask me again! Not very confidence inspiring but I do often wonder how they remember all the orders and I know I couldn’t do it.
When I eventually got my coffee, more than five minutes later, it was another of those cups that is more foam than coffee. I know Starbucks have a policy of remaking your coffee if you’re not happy and I know I should have complained but, by then, I just didn’t have the time. Down the wet road I went towards a set of wet Bargate rhinos I’d already captured, grumbling to myself and wondering if I should set myself up as a mystery coffee shopper. It seems to depend on which shop you go to and when as to what kind of coffee and service you get. Maybe I’m a little too fussy about my coffee.
My day at work was a typical Arabella whirlwind affair. Schedules, actors, musicians, invoices, orders, display stands, bridge supplies, cabin allocations, budgets, and lists upon lists. Yet another invoice conundrum ended the day with a puzzle. A rather large invoice for signing off which turned out to be one that had already been signed off, getting the alarm bells going. Still there was a good news in the form of an actress so famous I almost fell off my chair who has accepted a slot on one of next year’s UK turnaround cruises. I may even get to meet her!
When I got home and came back through the gate those bees were still hard at work on the lavender, I’m surprised there’s any nectar left.
Love all those photos of a wet – almost empty High Street and the Starbucks one with moving people.
Early in the morning is the only time the High Street is as empty as that. I was working in Dukes Keep at the time so I often saw it that way.