Thursday 31 July 2008

'Narrowboatworld'

I'd forgotten what a foul site that is, pretending to be 'the voice of the waterways'. If so, that voice is high-pitched, whining and malicious in tone.
There's a photo of named boats that are supposed to have overstayed somewhere - who gives a shit? Then there's Victor Swift's truly revolting page; he who spends his life looking for boaters to moan about. When he showed his mean impatience with me last year as I went slowly past moored boaters (he was in a boat behind me), I saw what kind of a person he was - mean and impatient!
Then there is the letters page where a woman writes in, complaining among other things, that continual cruisers have logs and blue tarpaulins and bikes on their roofs. Not that people living on boats need to keep warm in winter, their fuel dry or be able to travel to shops. Daft bint. Another wrote to complain, not about her views but to say he was a continual cruiser but didn't have stuff on his roof! Some solidarity. I guess that means he's burning diesel in winter and has a car parked somewhere - so much more acceptable.

But that's got me thinking since I read it because with all the summer boats out in force, I noticed I've been ignored and even sneered at by some boaters on immaculate boats. It makes me laugh that they, with their bland, boring, identikit boats would sneer at my beautiful home!
And it really is beautiful, I promise you!
In fact, now I take a great delight in offending them with my logs, my rampant courgettes and spinach, my long palette and guttering (soon to be rainwater harvesting), my baby trees in pots. I only regret that I don't have a blue tarpaulin up there. Perhaps I should get one. And the lovely thing is that their eyes may hurt from the terrible affront, but they can't do a thing about it. Ha!

1 comment:

Simon said...

and that's the down side of the internet - they let anyone on it! And as for the testosterone flowing round on the CW forums...

The grumpy g*t I posted about who watched me work three boats through and then called me 'selfish' when I refused to let him give others orders while my boat was in the lock has made it to the Llangollen too - we was a lock behind me coming up - he's got a tiny boat too, but sorry, wasn't going to share locks with him. he;s the kind of guy I imagine loves the NBW site - they think everything sghould be done their way, not anyone elses. Did I post about my conversation with someone on a similar subject? Something about the white middle class nature of most boaters, but some of us read the Guardian and some of us read the Daily Mail...

I see people sneering at my strange little boat. Their problem, not mine. ;-)