Actually, there are only ‘treats’ to report so far.

Last week, the wife and I had ourselves a little holiday in a cottage in the Highlands of Scotland. The idea was that we would rest, relax and recharge our batteries after what has seemed a very long and busy year so far. From my own perspective, it was just the tonic I needed.

Today’s turn was my first one after our break, and I was feeling a little nervous. However, I didn’t need to worry as the job was a nice gentle one to ease me back into driving. A round each to Chingford and Hertford East, then empties to Ilford. It was the same job that I observed from the secondman’s side a few weeks back (see Funky Moves: Friday 9th September) but, from the driver’s side, it wasn’t quite as hard as I’d expected. With the exception of one that is hidden behind a bridge, it was actually quite easy to see which signal applies to which line and where everything goes. They are even nice enough to throw in an extra double yellow aspect to compensate for the tight signal spacing between Stratford and Ilford. Even so, there is still plenty going on that can cause distraction and a fair bit to learn before I could ever ‘sign’ that route, especially with all the possible moves that can be made around Stratford and the length of line signalled for bi-directional movements.

I’m still not back with my own minder though, as he’s now on leave. Still, this week’s minder seems nice enough and pretty much just left me to get on with things, which I’m taking as something of a compliment.

Having had the ‘treat’ I think the ‘trick’ comes later in the week, as it looks like I’ll be rushing about on airports and suburbans.