Not losing my marbles

It was a beautiful sunny day - perfect for an encounter with my arch-nemesis: the Marble Cake. The Marble Cake resides in Hanwell. It is also Mrs U's favourite, and she craves it quite often. The 2.1 miles run from South Ealing to Hanwell's Lidl is not bad at all. The return, with all the goods on your back, is a different story. Visiting the West Ealing's Lidl on the way back to buy the remaining items between 11 am and 12 pm is usually out of the question - unless one is open to the idea of spending another 20 minutes in the queue to the cash till.

Mrs U said she collapsed earlier this week, injuring the back of her head, which sent her for a brief visit to a hospital. That was sad news. I could not offer any practical support regarding this situation but I could at least get her the cake she wanted so much.

I decided to buy all the Lidl items in the faraway Hanwell and set off back East. Bizarrely I had four tubs of Clover (Original!) in my rucksack. Before I left for the shopping, Mrs U brought up an idea that I can even get five of them. I pondered whether she needs all that margarine for the next week or two. The conclusion was that I certainly need my back functional for the next couple of weeks and that my t-shirt says 'GoodGym' rather than 'Man & Van'. Mrs U will have to survive on 2 kg of Clover.

While in Sainos, I called Mrs U to report that I didn't find the savoury cornflake mix I bought her a few weeks ago as a replacement for chivda. 'Oh dear! Oh my god!' Mrs U exclaimed. That was exactly the reaction I anticipated, so I played my cards. 'I can get you Bombay Mix or Gujarati Mix, or London Mix', I said. None of these was what Mrs U wanted, so she hinted that I could try the nearby halal shop. I wasn't sure I had time for that, so I set the expectations low. I visited two South Asian stores anyway. None of them had the cornflake mix, so I settled for Balti Mix, which I didn't think was the best decision. I was right about that. Mrs U was not happy with that purchase. I offered to pay back for it but ultimately, she agreed to keep it.

Mrs U very kindly invited me to come in and rest. Traditionally, I politely turned down the offer, as it was past the time I allocated for the mission, then I set off for my next gig of the day.