What Do These Two Phrases Have In Common?

 

Go Ruth and Hurrah for Northlink.

The answer is that they are both things that I have said in the last two weeks, while both being things that I never thought I would say, ever.

Just to get The Archers one out of the way, Go Ruth was my gleeful exhortation as the character let her sanctimonious and poisonous mother-in-law Jill have it from both barrels in a recent confrontation over something Jill had said to her grandson Ben. Three decades or so of justifiable resentment came tumbling out as Ruth told Jill how she had been made to feel ever since she married, and her cypher of a husband looked on in hapless bemusement. I normally have no time for the character of Ruth at all, but on this occasion I was happy to metaphorically hold her coat while she slugged it out. 

As for Northlink, we have long been disenchanted with them; hugely subsidised they nevertheless cancel many many ferries at short notice when their rival, private and therefore not able to rely on the money coming in whether they actually sail or not, continued to provide a service. The private one is much closer to where we live and also has a more convenient and more frequent timetable so it is a long time now since we stopped using Northlink and swapped to Pentland Ferries. 

However Pentland let us down in a big way last week when we were planning to return from Glasgow. To be fair it wasn't their fault. The weather was foul enough in Glasgow while we were there, but it was much worse here, because in addition to the driving rain which afflicted most of Scotland, Orkney had high winds. For days. Everything was tikety boo the day we left to go south; after that most of the ferries were cancelled and by Thursday night all the Pentland Ferries for Friday were 'under review' and we were booked on the last one of the day. We had seen this pattern all week, that sailings would be under review for the next day, and then get cancelled one by one as the day progressed and it looked as though we would be stuck down in the Central Belt for an unspecified time. Normally this prospect would fill me with nothing but joy but on this occasion I had to get back because I had two hospital appointments on Monday morning.  

On a whim, the OH checked the Northlink website without much expectation of there being any sailings, because if Pentland have cancelled you can normally bet the farm that Northlink beat them to it. But no, wonder of wonders! Northlink's morning service was leaving as usual on Friday. When we fond out it was late on Thursday evening, and we hummed and hahhed a bit but really we had no choice. The OH took to bed at 9, we woke him at half past midnight and then we drove through the night to the north cost to catch the morning ferry. Hearts in mouths for some of the time, as it was very very dark, but there was hardly any traffic which made things easier. When we got back I went straight to bed, but the OH stayed up, lit the fire, had some coffee and then played on his computer for several hours. No doubt his system was awash with adrenaline. 

So hurrah for Northlink for getting us home. They take a different route over the firth to Pentland and their side of the islands was sheltered from the worst of the winds last week which is how they were still going. The ferry was rammed with the normal Northlink people plus many of those who had had their Pentland bookings cancelled. We had been very lucky to get a booking, and we were duly grateful. 

As a postscript I should report that I got to both hospital appointments. An ultrasound scan that showed nothing untoward, and my flu and Covid 4 jabs. And apart from a slight energy dip in the afternoon I had no side effects from the covid jab, which was a (welcome) first.