Katie Jane My Doggy Friend

Well we first came to meet Katie we were on a trip to Birmingham, to visit relatives, it was mentioned that there was a young dog called Fluff, a female cross border collie, who if she was not found a home soon, would be going to the dogs home where if she was not homed, she would be put to sleep.

We went to look at the dog, who was a rather odd looking sort of dog, with the head of an Alsatian, and the body of a collie, she looked very frightened and anxious but at the same time affectionate.

How could we have not taken her, but here was the problem, how to get back home to Manchester with her, because at that time we did not have a car, and had in fact travelled down by train, well we found a lead somewhere, and off we went to the station, where the first surprise was we had to buy her a ticket.

The trip up to Manchester was uneventful, and on the way home we bought a new collar and lead, as well as dishes for water and food, not forgetting the food itself. When we got home, we showed her around the house and got her settled for the night.

We quickly decided that fluff was the wrong name for her and for reasons I can't now remember we changed her name to Katie, the next task was to go and see the vet, which we did quite quickly, he said rather than the young puppy we thought she was, she was actually 18 months old, but in good general health, he did her injections and off we went.

One of the problems we discovered with her, was that she was frightened of men, although she seemed to have no problem with me, but that might have been to do with the walks I took her on, one of the things she never ever came to terms with, was being in the car when the windscreen wipers were on, after a time we realised that this was because she identified the wipers as a stick coming down on her, which would be consistent with her having been beaten in the past.

I found she was a lovely companion, and when I wanted time on my own I used to take around the fields and I would chat to her as my best friend, during these times I taught her to retrieve objects in particular her lead, which she would happily chase them bring back to me, with her ears up, foolishly waiting for me to do it the next time.

One day whilst we were out with her, I threw a stick as I had many other times, but sadly on this occasion she pounced on the stick, but it had landed upright in the soft earth, and because of the speed, it went down her throat, we rushed to her because she was in so much pain and took her straight away to see the vet, fortunately she had not done too much damage and was quickly back to her old self.

As a result we learned never to do that again and instead bought her rubber ring which was bright orange so that we could see it if it was dropped, or lost any time.

One year we took her down to the lodges and I threw her ring a little too far and it went in the water, sadly it could not be found so we had to buy a new one, the following year there was little rain and one day when we went down to the lodges lower and behold there was the ring which we quickly retrieved, cleaned up and continue to use for her pleasure.

She was a lovely dog who was kind affectionate and very loving, she was also bright and intelligent and quick to learn and generally just happy to be in our company, having said that, she did have some strange traits, in that although she was a female dog, on occasion she would attempt to mount the cat, which we could never ever understand.

Sadly over a period of time her health deteriorated and one day she seemed to lose control of her legs so again we took her to the vet, but this time there was nothing could be done, we therefore asked that he put her to sleep so she would not be in pain or distress. She is still missed even now.

Computer Dating in The 70s

Well I have talked about this subject for years to a very small audience & if nothing else apart from boredom, my adventures in computer dating in the 70s should at least make you smile.

I was getting over a relationship that had gone terribly wrong , but I still thought that there must be some nice people out there if only there was a way to find them.

I had problems due to being shy, not good at pubs, sports or other activities that normally would create the chance to meet people, in fact I was working 12 hours a day in a signal box from 11am to 11pm, so my chances were practically nil of meeting others.

So I read an article about computer dating which matched people up with similar needs, this seemed perfect & how could a clever computer get it more wrong than I had.

So I sent off my money & application form & got a printout of six people, I eagerly rang the first, to be told she had found someone already.

The next sounded nice, so we arranged to meet, the next question was where & how would we recognise each other, well she said she would have a blue trousers suit on which sounded quite promising, then said it matched her MG sports car, well at the time I had a little Honda moped, but never mind hey.

Well we met she was smaller than me but not a problem, so we went for a drink & a chat, she mentioned the horses at home & sadly a picture of what would happen next came to mind but I felt be positive, well we had a nice chat and either as a nice put down or the truth she then proceeded to announce she had tried this to get over her last partner but really felt she was not ready for the next relationship yet.

Well back to the station said goodbyes, never heard again, would it of worked not sure, her horse my moped maybe not.

Undaunted, I thought well at least she seemed nice lets try another, so rang, again a number of times & finally spoke to someone, again pleasant voice arranged to meet under the clock at Piccadilly Station at 8pm, she would be wearing a Pink coat, I would be wearing my trusty blue suit again. Well I waited & waited approached a couple of girls who seemed to fit the bill none of them, so started thinking been stood up. Finally just as I was thinking it was all in vain, I saw her & we introduced ourselves.

Well we decided to go to a local pub for a drink & the conversation flowed nicely until I asked what had delayed her. She explained she had been working late, so I asked what she did. I could not follow what she said so asked again, she explained she worked in A SIGNALBOX!!!! I said what as so she explained that she operated the levers to help the trains proceed, well I could not believe it, what a computer it must be, I wasted no time and explained I did the same job, guess her response,

She said I joined this to get away from Railway men.

Well I thought here we go again nice to of met & start again, but no we started chatting about all sorts of things not the railway.
To cut a long story short we became very good friends we never moved into a formal relationship but used to chat when at work & exchange stories of others we had met on the way. I am not sure how we stopped chatting but one day I realised a couple of years had passed & we had not rung each other.

If you are out there & ever read this let me know Sylvia, I would love to know did you ever meet the love of your life & if so what happened.

Well readers that’s all for now I will come back soon & tell you more of how computer dating & others affected my life