Bringing Tim home

The Friday of the second week after Tim’s accident he would have a hospital appointment again. To the best of my knowledge, the idea was that they would cut some doors into this cast, pry them open, have a look at the state of his ankle, and then decide if they could operate on him yet. If they could it wasn't clear if that was going to be that very day, or the weekend, even the week after. But the surgeon who had seen him the day after the incident had suggested there is a.restricted time window in which you can sort an injury like that out. They would have to make sure they wouldn't stray outside that. 

I had found out empirically that bringing him to hospital and coming to pick him back up again, all the way from Bethesda, is very time-consuming. So we had made a plan; I would bring him back to Chester before his appointment, and a relative would come to stay with him, as he still couldn't look after himself. And they would chaperone him to his appointment.

On a Wednesday, which was the 12th day since he had come over, I got home after work, and got ready to take him home right away. He had already packed all his stuff! So I parked my own car, and loaded all his stuff into his. By now I was on the insurance. We left at about 4 pm.

Driving there happened without incident! And at his place, we unloaded again. I made sure that things ended up where they should be. And then fetched a few more things from the attic that he figured he would need. We also had a quick dinner. But then it was pretty much time for me to head back. Having delivered his car, I was now reliant on public transport to get back home. And there was a bus I could catch, that would get me to Chester on time to catch a train that would allow me to be home at a civilised time. 

It felt a bit abrupt, but I also wanted to get that train. So I left. Then at the bus stop it turned out that the bus was due 10 minutes later than I had thought. I realised I wasn't at the bus stop for which I had looked up the bus times. Oh well; it might still work. But the bus didn't come. And it didn't come. And it didn't come.

I was already on the phone to Tim saying I might have to come back and phone a taxi, as this was going nowhere, when I saw a bus. It went the wrong way, but while I was still staring that one down, the bus in the correct direction appeared as well. Saved by the bell! The next bus would be over an hour later…

I was resigned to not catching the train I had intended, but I could still catch a later one that wasn't too bad. So I walked from the bus station to the train station (of course they're not in the same location), and walked onto the platform. There was a train there. I tried to figure out where mine would go from. And then I realised it was the one I was staring at. It was the train I had wanted to catch, but it was so late I had even caught it with a seriously delayed bus! I was chuffed.

Walking through nightly Chester

I sat down and checked the bus times in Bangor. And I should be able to catch the 9 o'clock bus. Great! But the train, which was clearly delayed, was getting delayed even more while it made its way to Bangor. My window for catching the bus was getting smaller and smaller and smaller! Google Maps said it took 12 minutes to walk the fastest route from the train station to the bus station (of course, also in Bangor, these are not in the same location), and when we arrived, there were only eight minutes left. I figured I had little to lose, and just ran all the way. And I got to the bus station with two minutes to spare! I was triumphant. The bus was on the light board, listed as the first one to depart. But nothing appeared. And then I looked again and the next bus was more than an hour later. What had happened?

Because I knew it was going to be a long trip I had brought my laptop. And the bus station isn't far from the main campus. And Pontio is both a cultural venue and a university building. Surely cultural venues are still open at this hour, and Pontio being a university building it has Eduroam. Perfect! So I walked there, and it was indeed open, and there was a table with a socket, and it was warm and light and quiet and all was good. I just sat down and did a bit of work.

In Pontio 

When the arrival time of the next bus came close I went back to the bus station. Luckily, this time it appeared! It was already dangerously close to my bedtime. But the bus made good progress. And then I finally came home.

I think it has taken me about one hour and 10 minutes door to door on the way out. It had taken me about four hours and 15 minutes on the way back. I suppose that anyone with a choice doesn't use public transport like that. It is so inefficient! Yet another sign that things are not well in this country. But there we are.

I don't mind doing the bit between the two train stations by train. But I am not of a mind to do the entire trip by public transport anytime soon again! I have stuff to do with my life. And I hope that at the next elections, this country will vote for a party that will actually invest in public transport. It badly needs it…