It’s Valentine’s Day! Which is really just an entirely meaningless thing to Rach and I. In fact I only mention it at all because it turns out to be just about the least interesting aspect of the day.
More importantly, it’s the Elderbeast’s first day of PEAC (Primary Extension And Challenge) which is pretty exciting. I have high hopes that this will inspire him enough to really start using his brains. Less excitingly, Rach has a migraine, but she still manages to come for the introductory session.
So we start the day by driving to PEAC, which takes place at an entirely different school than the usual one. Then I drive back home again to drop Rach off. Then I drive to work … and manage to have a car crash.
It’s not a bad one. I’m driving along and a level crossing comes down. The car in front of me stops. I’m perhaps not quite paying enough attention because I have to hit the brake hard, but I stop in time. Unfortunately, I see in my rearview mirror that the car coming up behind me isn’t going to be so lucky. Thump.
We pull over (once the train has gone by, of course) and I find myself feeling pretty bad when I see the damage. The front of the other driver’s car is caved in, but there’s barely a scratch on the back of mine. She’s gone right into the tow bar. I feel even worse when she tells me that she’s only just bought the car. Then she says: “And on Valentine’s Day too!” which seems an odd thing to say, as if a car crash is the precise opposite of a romantic night out … which I guess it could be. Either way, I’m glad she didn’t crash into someone who felt like giving her a hard time about it. I feel pretty good about that. We exchange details and move on.
And it’s still only 10am. I drive back to work, where we’ve got a major software release type thing happening, so I have to coordinate that. Then I have to leave again an hour later and collect the Elderbeast from PEAC so I can take him back to his regular school. The good news is he loves PEAC and seems truly inspired. I return to work and sustain myself on cake, donuts and banana bread during the day. When I finally get home I realise I forgot to eat lunch.
The Elderbeast helps me make a pumpkin and coconut dahl for dinner, which turns out super delicious. Over dinner we make the random decision that we will head down to Albany for my birthday–which is in May–and start making plans.
Seriously though – what a day!