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At 9.05 am on Tuesday 18th November 2010, my favourite hat (a brown soft felt Barber) was blown from my head by a freak gust. A train pulled in on platform 2 and a train pulled out of platform 1 as I walked down the tunnel connecting them and a sudden blast of london underground air pulled the hat from my head. It soared to the top of the tunnel and came to rest underneath the furthest track. I called the station manager who came to the platform but was unable to retrieve it. A driver told me someone would get it after the rush hour and I continued my journey.
That evening I asked in the station and was told that they would have to wait until the night when the power was turned off, but I should ask in the morning. I checked the platform and found that my hat was bravely holding on in the same spot.
Wednesday morning there was a note in the Brixton station log saying that it had not been recovered, and the station manager took that to mean it had been blown away between 8pm and 3am. I checked the platform and it was still there, safely nestled.
On Wednesday night Carol, who I had also talked to on Tuesday night, walked with me down the platform until she could see it and made a long note in the station log so that the night maintenance crew would know exactly where to find it. She also told me that they might not have been able to get it if there had been any kind of activity on the line as it was tucked underneath the juice rail, as she called it. She also referred to a ceramic insulator as, I think, a flowerpot.
On Thursday morning the boys in the office were expecting me and told me that the hat had still not been recovered, with no good reason.
If I've lost my hat, it is a mild irritation. It was a good hat and it will cost me time and money to replace it. But now I'm more interested in how long this will go on for. Any bets?
In other news, I'm in the middle of a hasty and stressful house move which means I'm busy as a busy thing until Christmas, which means I'm having to organise the C word already. I've decided that lots of people will be being sent Random Tat That Made Me Think Of You as I keep coming across things I don't want to throw away and don't want to keep. If you receive anything bizarre from me, please know that I will not be insulted if it's immediately disposed of.
If you would actually like to receive some Random Tat, or a copy of the MMXtape, or a home(badly)made card, please leave your details as a comment (comments screened) or email me at xmasgivaway at weaselspoon dot com.
That evening I asked in the station and was told that they would have to wait until the night when the power was turned off, but I should ask in the morning. I checked the platform and found that my hat was bravely holding on in the same spot.
Wednesday morning there was a note in the Brixton station log saying that it had not been recovered, and the station manager took that to mean it had been blown away between 8pm and 3am. I checked the platform and it was still there, safely nestled.
On Wednesday night Carol, who I had also talked to on Tuesday night, walked with me down the platform until she could see it and made a long note in the station log so that the night maintenance crew would know exactly where to find it. She also told me that they might not have been able to get it if there had been any kind of activity on the line as it was tucked underneath the juice rail, as she called it. She also referred to a ceramic insulator as, I think, a flowerpot.
On Thursday morning the boys in the office were expecting me and told me that the hat had still not been recovered, with no good reason.
If I've lost my hat, it is a mild irritation. It was a good hat and it will cost me time and money to replace it. But now I'm more interested in how long this will go on for. Any bets?
In other news, I'm in the middle of a hasty and stressful house move which means I'm busy as a busy thing until Christmas, which means I'm having to organise the C word already. I've decided that lots of people will be being sent Random Tat That Made Me Think Of You as I keep coming across things I don't want to throw away and don't want to keep. If you receive anything bizarre from me, please know that I will not be insulted if it's immediately disposed of.
If you would actually like to receive some Random Tat, or a copy of the MMXtape, or a home(badly)made card, please leave your details as a comment (comments screened) or email me at xmasgivaway at weaselspoon dot com.
