I’m seriously considering naming my house Leak House. A few years ago the shed roof was leaking and had to be repaired. The sill above the back door has leaked and had to be sealed. The sink tap was leaking and had to be replaced last year along with some pipework. More recently the bath tap was leaking and I had to have some pipework replaced. On Sunday, after we’d showered, I noticed the leak was there again only much worse than a dripping. The plumber came back today, tightened the tap he’d knocked loose, and resealed the taps, and then replaced the bath seal. He also liberated me of yet more money to pay for the sealant. I’m never going to be able to replace my broken cooker if this keeps on!

Due to the expected road closures on Sunday I took Friday off, just so I could get things done. Town was extremely busy and I wonder if everybody else had the same idea. I’d already decided I wasn’t going to see my friend over the weekend however I let slip to my sister that I was off, and she decided she’d like to come with. I love my sister, don’t get me wrong, but I was looking forward to a day to myself. Anyway, after I’d told her all I had to get done that day, she miraculously remembered that she had an appointment and couldn’t join me after all. Another time will be better…

Some good news: I had to have an eye test on Saturday morning and a fields test – checks field of vision, and my eyes have barely changed since my last check-up 2 years ago, so no new glasses for me. That’s a relief! I’d taken an old pair of glasses to reuse if I needed new lenses, but I’m relieved that I don’t.

Sunday was very quiet at home due to the road closures though we were buzzed by helicopters, presumably keeping an eye on the proceedings. Apparently some people had thrown tin tacks into the road at two different spots which was very childish and potentially dangerous, but it does show the level of animosity regarding this race. Some cyclists were very disappointed about this, and the fact that some lined the route with placards stating ‘No’ and they had a rant about the selfishness of the minority. Let’s be clear here; the 15,000 cyclists that descended on us so that they could get their rocks off cycling safely through South Wales, and forced road closures that kept hundreds of thousands at home for around 8 hours are the minority. We were not informed of these closures until it was too late to protest, we had very little notice, and there was little or no consultation with residences. All is not lost though as the organisers have stated that ‘lessons were learned.’ Oh, that’s all right then! We have the same cr*p to look forward to for the next 4 or 5 years along with an increase in the number of cyclists. Hopefully next year there’ll be more advanced warning, and possibly a rolling roadblock to keep disruption to an absolute minimum. Some have argued that it was just one day, however to keep hundreds of thousands off the road, even for just one day is pretty intolerable. People have lost work because they couldn’t get there, others made it to work but couldn’t get home again, and some businesses have lost thousands of pounds. Still, we mustn’t upset the minority of cyclists who obviously don’t care how much disruption was caused. The UK is good at appeasing minorities…