Strange Day in Newport

Apologies for yet another text-dominated entry, but today was a bit weird. Nice, but weird.

It all started yesterday when the Head Teacher of the school hosting my primary placement informed my that Tuesday was a one-off day of industrial action. Then last night BBC News announced that today was the biggest general strike seen in the UK since the 1920s. So there we are, an impromptu day off. No complaints.

Kenny was up at 6:15 this morning, screaming his little blond head off. Not a usual occurrence but these things happen. I confess I needed much of God's grace to respond sympathetically to my wailing infant. I brewed a tea for Cheri, who was sleeping in (usually it's her that gets up with Kenny) at 7:37 and she came down around 8am. Shortly after Cheri got up I went back to bed to lay down. I should mention here that despite scads of sleep I haven't been able to catch up on sleep. It's probably something to do with our training + commute + moving phase of life. I got up perhaps an hour later and we all played together until Kenny started showing signs of obvious hunger, namely tugging on the child-safe cupboard door saying "nummy, nummy." A grilled cheese sarny (slang for 'sandwich' in the UK) for Cheri, and Beans & Eggs on Toast for Kenny and I. Imagine Kenny droning on non-stop for ten minutes while Cheri prepares lunch: "beans, beans, beans, beans, beans, beans..."

Then Kenny went down for what turned out to be a three-hour nap, and Cheri and I joined him. So very tired! After his nap we went down to the shops in Newport we had only discovered earlier this week, when we found Kenny a brand-name pair of walking shoes for only £6.99! By this time the wind was kicking up something fierce, a regular occurrence around here in Wales.

On the way home we pulled to the side of the road to let a police cruiser, lights flashing and sirens blaring, make a five-point turn to return the way it had come. A paddy wagon followed shortly after. Then we passed an ambulance parked on the curbside where a paramedic was hunched over a body covered by a white sheet. Now I don't know paramedical procedures, but I'm quite sure that paramedics usually load injured people into waiting ambulances. We were waiting for traffic lights to change while watching the scene unfold, but no move was ever made towards the ambulance. Anybody care to venture a guess why not? Maybe one of you readers who work for the emergency services?

We stopped at Sainsbury's (supermarket) for groceries and had just gone through checkout when a store security officer hared off into the parking lot followed by lanky cashier. They ran towards the petrol pumps and disappeared inside the station. As an isolated incident, we would have just scratched our heads and carried on. But after the police car and the ambulance and the body on the curb, it was just another strange thing to add to the list.

This has been Tuesday from Newport. Stay tuned for a book review and other exciting entries in the days ahead. Again, apologies to our viewers for the boring slice-of-life post.