Today, I have been mostly driving a 4 wheeled vehicle in London…and it’s been a pain in the arse…
Yesterday my 1 yr old son was admitted to the Royal Brompton hospital for a little procedure which involves a general anesthetic…which was planned for today. He has a congenital heart condition so it’s not the first time we’ve been there. Dropped the Mrs off yesterday morning ( I like Sunday mornings in the capital - lot less traffic). This afternoon she phoned me to say everything has gone ok, and to come and pick her and our kid up. So off I set, braving central London traffic on a Monday afternoon… but the traffic was bloody awful ( might just be my perception - I’m usually on my bike or in the company vehicle - where I don’t seem to notice the jams so much) so I started deviating from the main routes using my tried and tested back routes… but every single one of them had roadworks on them grrrrrrrr
Finally get into Chelsea - stop at the side of the road to phone the Mrs to see if she’s ready…can’t get an answer - On previous occasions when he’s been discharged the whole procedure has taken hours due to the different consultants that have to see him, and the drugs he gets prescribed… so I make a decision, I park my van in the remarkable convenient empty pay & display bay opposite the hospital. Empty my pockets of the £7 in change I have and almost get the 2 hours parking in need to pay for to get to 6.30pm when it becomes free.
Pop into the hospital, meet the Mrs and the boy. He’s still attached to monitors and stuff - because his oxygen satuation has been dropping quite low (one of the symptoms of his particular condition). Wifey also informs me at this point that the boy has been diagnosed as anaemic, and that they’ve considered doing a blood transfusion, but they’ve decided to give him some tablets and give a blood test in a couple of weeks to see how he is doing. But the doctors/nurses aren’t happy with his oxygen levels. The Mrs tries to explain that it’s due to him being a little pissed off with being pulled around all day by these doctors & nurses and that if left alone he will go back to normal, so please can we go.
The consultant comes round and says, no - we’ll do the transfusion and he’ll be staying the night. Right, so I’ve come all the way into London for no reason, paid £8 congestion charge & £7 parking - as well as an awful lot of money for diesel. And I’ve got 3 other kids at home expecting their mum and younger brother home. Still at this point I’m still quite philisophical about it all. I decide to stay until after they’ve started the procedure, so the Mrs and I can go and get something to eat on the Kings Rd. I’ve still got the little problem of the van though - I didn’t have quite enough money to get my parking paid up until 6.30 when it becomes free remember. So I tell the Mrs that i’ll go and move the van & drive it around for 10-15 minutes and then park it again. No problem. Off I pop to the van. As I go around the corner and look at my van I immediately notice the big yellow ticket on my window. And I immediately notice the reason why. Next to my van, clearly referring to the bay I have parked in are numerous signs informing me that the particular bay in all of Kensington & Chelsea where I chose to park is suspended. I managed to spot them from about 75 yards away. Quite why I couldn’t see them when I parked the bloody van, god only knows.
So I’m now down another £120 ( well £60 if I pay within 14 days or something).*
To top it all I didn’t get to eat anything with the Mrs either. As we were walking briskly towards Pizza Express her phone rang - it was the hospital - would she mind awfully if she popped back and stopped her son from screaming the hospital down… apparently he had woken up a little less than impressed about receiving blood, and not having his mummy with him.
So I came home hungry and poor… and I’ve got to go back and do it all again tomorrow… only due to previous parental committments I’ll have to take the other 3 kids as well:rolleyes:
Thank you for allowing to rant and rave. I have no one else to tell - I don’t think my kids are ready for this kind of rant yet:)
- It’s only my 2nd parking ticket in 20 years of driving…so I can’t complain too much
