Wheels.

If I leave my Italian class promptly on a Tuesday afternoon I can get to the bus stop just in time to catch one of the rare buses that goes all the way from the city centre to Delph village. Today, thinking I was in plenty of time, I headed for my usual shortcut to the bus stop, only to find it was cordoned off with police tape. I tried to go round via Piccadilly Gardens. That route too was cordoned off. In fact the whole of Piccadilly gardens seemed to be under some kind of siege. So I asked some of the people who were simply standing and staring, not trying to get anywhere and in some cases recording everything that seemed not be happening on their mobile phones. 

It transpired that someone was perched in the middle of the Ferris wheel that currently adorns the square, right in the middle on the central spindle, as it were. Whether he was protesting about something or was just a random person sufficiently depressed to make his cry for help by bringing the centre of the city to a standstill was not clear. 

I backtracked, still trying to make my way to the bus stop but becoming more optimistic by the minute. At that point I saw where that the buses were making a diversion, omitting from their route the corner of Piccadilly Gardens. Amongst these diverting buses was the one I wanted to catch. Of course, there was no obvious bus stop near at hand where I could stop the bus and get of. Besides, it was steaming ahead at full speed so I had no chance at all. Goodbye bus. 

My next choice of transport was the tram which, amazingly, seemed not to be affected by the city centre chaos. Not only that, but MY tram was approaching. With luck I would be in time to catch the 5.20 connecting bus from Oldham to Delph. That did not happen, as you might expect. The tram was held up as it approached a single-track bit of line and had to wait for a couple of other trams to come through. 

This meant that I arrived in Oldham some five minutes after my bus had left. I filled in some of the 25 minute wait by going to a cash machine but any other possible strolls were ruled out by the heavens opening and a huge downpour soaking anyone who was not in a bus shelter. You will be pleased to know I got home safe and sound eventually and managed to avoid the rain. I waited so long in the bus shelter (the bus was at least 5 minutes late) that the rain had given up and gone away! 

 Life could be worse! I could be one of the poor souls on job-seekers allowance who will be forced to accept zero-hours contracts if jobs with such conditions are offered. Until now they have been able to turn down such contracts which make them keep themselves "on call" for work but do not oblige the employer to actually provide regular employment. And the pay is usually pretty poor too. Loads of students work on such contracts but they are not good for long-term employment. They prevent people going on training courses or even looking for better work in many cases. Now, under the new ruling, if a job-seeker turns down such a contract he may find himself without benefit for 13 weeks. If he turns down a second offer he could lose 26 weeks of benefit. Someone in government has decided this is a good idea. I think it's supposed to "incentivise" (horrible word) the job seekers. However, it seems to me that the people being "incentivised" are the employers who are being given carte blanche to carry on with this semi-slavery system! 

OK. Rant over.Let's move on.

I have known for a while that the Tour de France is going to start this year in Yorkshire. A friend of mine says they should change the name to Tour de Yorkshire. Today I read that the Giro d'Italia, another very prestigious cycle race is going to start, next week I think, in Northern Ireland. People there are painting tractors pink to match the leader's pink jersey. 
 

Some are even dying their sheep pink. Astounding stuff! 

But can you really call these races by their national names if they start in places which are clearly NOT France or Italy?