Stop staring at my t*ts

I had a meeting yesterday with my boss and two of our clients. Both of the clients were women wearing low cut tops.

In situations like this I find my eyes drawn to a certain area whether I find the woman attractive or not, I guess there's some evolutionary theories in there somewhere but they all sound like excuses to lech. I understand it's bad form to ogle, I know not to do it so I make sure not to look. It's a minor struggle sometimes but not beyond me, especially in the working environment.

Even outside of work I cringe when I see some guy virtually drooling at a tight pair of jeans. It's worse when the jeans are 20 something and the eyes are 50 something. Be a bit more discrete, no wonder some women consider all men to be potential rapists. So although I appreciate a good figure, I'm not about to turn primal at the drop of a hat. Not all men seem able to restrain themselves though.

Back in the meeting I'm discussing web hosting options and the like, everytime I turn to my boss for confirmation on a point or two I catch him staring at one the client's chests. We wrap the meeting up and head off for the lifts.

Once inside he says, "If only all our customers were so nice and easy to get on with."

"..and with big cleavages too," I reply.

He realises I'm trying to warn him about the ogling, "Yep, yep, that too. You know sometimes I'm accused of being a bit lecherous but it's these glasses. They're bi-focal so I have to look down a lot to focus and sometimes it looks like I'm being a dirty old man."

I couldn't help but laugh.

Fire

The first day back at work after my holiday and the train home makes an impromptu stop at Chislehurst. There was a fire at Paddock Wood so the line was closed. The guard told us that there would be an alternative train or bus service to get us home.

So we all pile off the train and wait for some info.......5 minutes......10 minutes......nothing. Let's go and ask the ticket office.

The chap at the ticket counter didn't know anything about the fire.
Some of us 'phone SE Trains hotline, they didn't know anything about the fire.
There were NO alternative arrangements.

After several 'phone calls the ticket office chap announces that another train will be making an unscheduled stop to pick us up and go on to Tonbridge then we can make our way from there. Five minutes later the train stops and we pile on.

It turns out the fire is now under control but the down platform at Paddock Wood is still closed so those who need to get to Paddock Wood can go to the next station, Marden, and get a train back up the line to Paddock Wood as the up platforms are still open.

As we went through Paddock Wood the devastation is immense. There is a thick, black smoke high into the air and we can still feel the heat of the dying embers from 100 yards away. The warehouse has all but gone, just the twisted metal outer casing remains and the top of that has melted inwards.

I was feeling aggrieved about getting home late but seeing the fire site made me feel guilty for being so selfish.

I hope everyone got out in time.

Travelling

We packed up the car and set off at 7:40 on Saturday morning. We expected the journey to be unpleasant, it's a long way to drive with three small children. They were tired and restless by the time we were nearing the end of the A303.

Then we got stuck in a long jam. It took about an hour to get through it, we limped along and made a brief stop at Newcott Chef for coffee and toilet breaks. The holdup was caused by a broken down coach, it was blocking the other other lane. At this point on the road it's a single carriage each way rolling through pretty hills and woodland. Very scenic but nowhere to drag the coach offroad.

We stopped at my wife's aunt and uncle's cottage in Otterton for tea before pushing onto the holiday camp, Perran Sands.

Click here for more on Otterton.

My wife's uncle is a lecturer at a nearby agricultural college, practical dairy farming and the like. He's fairly new to teaching but enjoying it, not least because the hours are easier than actual farming. At the moment they're renting a cottage but hope to move into one of the houses on the college grounds soon.

The weather was a little rainy but still warm and the forecast promised it would be quite dry for the rest of the week. We got to the camp site after roughly 7.5 hours on the road. Tired but glad to be there and looking forward to the holiday on the beach.