Quite a day
This time last year I was comparing different versions of Emma, and thinking 'relaxed' can mean different things to game developers and players (as can 'story mode' - looks at COE33).
Twenty years ago, my husband and kids went into town to welcome home the conquering heroes and I stayed at home to eat and record everything on a video tape. Remember those? Only 20 years ago...
Today, we set off fairly early to join the gathering of the faithful to welcome this batch of heroes. There was something... off... about the atmosphere. It wasn't as warm and friendly as other homecomings. I don't know why that was.
The rain started about midday and just kept going. It got heavier at points but never stopped completely. We chose a point away from the barriers, thinking it would be easier to get in and out if we needed anything (I needed to find a toilet a couple of times!), and that we'd see just as well from the back. The first thought was a good one, the other wasn't.
As on other occasions, we found ourselves about equidistant from two groups that were singing and dancing, which is what we wanted to do. But having found a spot, we were reluctant to move, so we sat getting wet and cold and not really having any fun.
And the strange atmosphere showed itself in people being openly narked with each other, people drinking too much, and people climbing scaffolding and letting off fire extinguishers. And the litter! There were no big bins out, which there have been on other occasions, so people just left their rubbish on the street. I mean, there always is some rubbish because there comes a point where people can't get through the crowd to the bins but it's never been that bad.
By the time the bus with the players on went past, we were really just wanting to go home. The bus itself was also invisible thanks to the flares going off. Why do people do that? We're thinking of picking a spot at the end of the Dock Road nearest our house next time. Son's friend was there and the pics of the bus are clear of smoke.
When we were looking for videos of the parade we were instead confronted by an 'incident' involving a car driving right at pedestrians. We had even toyed with going to the street where it happened but decided to stick with the more direct route. Not many details yet. Just a terrible end to what wasn't really a great day for us, anyway.
Twenty years ago, my husband and kids went into town to welcome home the conquering heroes and I stayed at home to eat and record everything on a video tape. Remember those? Only 20 years ago...
Today, we set off fairly early to join the gathering of the faithful to welcome this batch of heroes. There was something... off... about the atmosphere. It wasn't as warm and friendly as other homecomings. I don't know why that was.
The rain started about midday and just kept going. It got heavier at points but never stopped completely. We chose a point away from the barriers, thinking it would be easier to get in and out if we needed anything (I needed to find a toilet a couple of times!), and that we'd see just as well from the back. The first thought was a good one, the other wasn't.
As on other occasions, we found ourselves about equidistant from two groups that were singing and dancing, which is what we wanted to do. But having found a spot, we were reluctant to move, so we sat getting wet and cold and not really having any fun.
And the strange atmosphere showed itself in people being openly narked with each other, people drinking too much, and people climbing scaffolding and letting off fire extinguishers. And the litter! There were no big bins out, which there have been on other occasions, so people just left their rubbish on the street. I mean, there always is some rubbish because there comes a point where people can't get through the crowd to the bins but it's never been that bad.
By the time the bus with the players on went past, we were really just wanting to go home. The bus itself was also invisible thanks to the flares going off. Why do people do that? We're thinking of picking a spot at the end of the Dock Road nearest our house next time. Son's friend was there and the pics of the bus are clear of smoke.
When we were looking for videos of the parade we were instead confronted by an 'incident' involving a car driving right at pedestrians. We had even toyed with going to the street where it happened but decided to stick with the more direct route. Not many details yet. Just a terrible end to what wasn't really a great day for us, anyway.