First day in Derby

I arrived in Derby quite late this evening due to having a couple of other things on which meant I couldn't get a very early train. I don't know, you have nothing on for ages, and then suddenly everything collides: today, I had an eye test (I need new glasses, which wasn't much of a surprise), had my hair cut, and then had to get the two hour train to Derby. After the eye test and hairdresser I didn't much feel like going on the train, to be honest, but I pepped myself up with the knowledge that Wayne would be there when I arrived and I could have a much-needed hug. I might have only been in Boston for one week, but that was more than enough, believe me.

So I arrived about 8 and found Wayne outside the station, reading some signs about the history of Derby. After a quick RAARR hug attack, we set off for his new house - a house he only moved in to last week, and so a house I had never seen before.
The last house he lived in wasn't, to be perfectly and brutally honest, the best. It was too big, too cold, and although the atmosphere was cheerier than the one in the Boston house, it was pretty bad. This new house, however, is lovely. There’s no mould (something the old house had in great big green mounds), the atmosphere is cheery and happy, and everyone gathers in the room daily. The rooms are a nice size, and the house is away from the main road – it really is a lovely place. The only slight problem with it is that it is so far away from town, but hey-ho, never mind. It is only 6 minutes away from the Uni (at Wayne's regular walking pace (aka, snail pace)) so I can forgive it for being away from town!

After being shown around, Wayne made me a cup of tea. Ooooh, that reminds me of something I said I'd mention – The Kettle! When they moved in, Wayne sent me a really excited text about a really awesome kettle. I don’t know what I was expecting – perhaps a kettle that played music while boiling, mashing and fixing the tea – but it certainly didn't live up to the hype. A press of a button makes the lid flick up, and when you turn the power on, the water level lights up blue. That’s what makes it 'awesome'. Still, it makes a cuppa, and that's all that matters really.

Then we (Alex, Jess, Josh (Wayne's housemates), Wayne and I) sat down and stuck a film on. It was a martial arts film, so I wasn't entirely sure what I was letting myself in for by agreeing to watch it, but I went with it anyway. It would be rude not to, considering I was a guest at their house and everything. The film chosen was Ong Bak. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a percentage of 85% - way over what I was expecting. It wasn’t that the film was appalling – it wasn’t – it was just so laughable and silly. Obviously a showcase of the leading actor’s epic martial arts skillz, it was one chase (including one in tuc tucs) and fight after another. The best character in it was George, the idiotic and slightly adorable “sidekick” who kept making awesome mistakes. Not huge, momentous mistakes, but mistakes that are genuinely awesome and bring about the end of a load of bad guys.
The sidekick’s sidekick, a young girl, seemed to have no purpose except to stand there and look shocked or worried a lot. For example:



(She's the one in the middle. George is on the left, with the main character in the centre.)

But the film has ended so now we have to go to bed – I'm “more shattered than a smashed window” (to quote the text I sent Wayne this morning) and, since Wayne's been up since 5 due to work, he's just as knackered. He has Thursday morning off from Tesco so he can spend tomorrow with me, so I suppose that's one more good thing about this trip - it made him take a (much needed) day off from work!

Day one, done.