Forwards and occasionally sidewards – everyday musings of life

4:00 AM. I gave up on sleep. Combination of lingering excitement and the sort of ravenous hunger that only follows hours of intense training, heavy driving, and general adrenaline.

My left elbow is currently protesting, having been forced into angles I didn’t know the human arm was capable of twisting into. Still—no pain, no gain.

Later in the morning, Karen and I headed off to the outlet shopping centre in search of a few kitchen items we’ve been missing. I say “missing”; they are almost certainly lurking in the deep holding area—the garage—buried somewhere within the mountain of boxes I’ve come to know so intimately over recent months.

We don’t go shopping often, but when we do, we have a system. It always begins with one of Karen’s famous lists, after which things generally take one of three paths

Scenario A: We arrive enthusiastically, only to discover the shops don’t stock the items, have them in the wrong sizes, or we simply dislike them in the flesh. We declare we didn’t really need them anyway, have a coffee, and drive home triumphant at our impressive savings.

Scenario B: We lose all control. We buy everything on the list, plus a raft of items we hadn’t planned for. Did I ever mention the most expensive mousetrap in the world? We went out for a simple £5 trap and walked out £400 lighter, looking like a pair of hill farmers fully kitted in heavy-duty wet weather gear and wellies, prepared for the absolute worst of the British elements.

Scenario C: We actually find the items, cogitate at length, buy them, and then drive home feeling completely shopped out, muttering, “I’m sure there was something else we needed…”

Today was mostly a Scenario B. We got the planned kitchen bits, but we also walked out with a shiny new Samsung Fold 7 phone for me.

Still, after a long working week for Karen where we usually only cross paths when entirely spent, it was just good to spend the day wandering—and indulging—together.