I had just come out of hospital in Birmingham having been diagnosed diabetic and spending a week being pampered by pretty nurses. (I'd asked to stay longer but they had enough after a week).

While in hospital I'd seen a trial for the Grand National in which a horse won superbly, my tip for the national. I had a mammoth (for a broke student) £2 e.w. and the lovely horse came in at 16-1 for me.

The following Tuesday Newcastle were playing at Wrexham in an end of season game. I decided to blow my winnings on going.

I got the train from New Street, with a change at Shrewsbury. It was a tight change at Shrewsbury so I dived off ran across to the timetable board and desperately searched for the local train that was my connection. No matter where I looked I couldn't find it. It then dawned on me that I'd been given duff info and I should have stayed on the train I'd been on. So, 6:45 and I'm in Shrewsbury, no idea how far to Wrexham, next train and hour away.

I rushed out to the taxi rank and was met by a single black cab with an old guy in it. I asked him how far to Wrexham (about 30 miles), and did he take credit cards (no problem). Off we set, me emphasising the urgency of getting there for 7:30. The guy was hopeless, no matter how much I urged him on he wouldn't go faster. Eventually we pulled up outside the Racecourse Ground at exactly 7:30.

"£15 sir". I passed him my Visa card and he looked at it and said, "where's the cheque bit ?". "What !!!!". "This is the bit you get the number off to write on the back of the cheque, but where's the cheque". Time was ticking away as my mind struggled with the guys ineptitude. I explained, gave the guy my home phone number, took his card and ran, promising to send a cheque in the post.

As I got in Wrexham were celebrating. In an awful awful game we lost 4-2, Varadi getting a couple. (Team of Carr, Brownlie, Saunders, Carney, Haddock, Trewick, Cartwright, Martin, Mills, Waddle, Varadi ..... don't tell me we are boring these days !!). At the end of the game it was raining. The whole thing was just a disaster. The crowd of 4517 was the lowest I've ever been in.

I got the 10:30 trian back to Birmingham, in the house by 1:00 wondering why I did it.

I then started to look for someone to blame for my change in luck. The obvious culprit was Mr Station Taxis of Shrewsbury. If he'd got me there on time they'd not have conceded the early goal. If he'd understood the high finance that was credit cards he'd have not messed up my karma. I decided I wasn't going to pay him.

I shared a flat with three other students, and I mad esure over the next few weeks I was first to the phone when it rang. Eventually he phoned. It was obvious straight away it was him.

"Could I speak to Ian Ferguson please" "I'm sorry no you can't, he isn't here any more" "But he owes me £20 for a taxi trip". (Cheeky bastard £20 !!!) "He owes us three weeks rent and he's done a runner, don't know where he is" "Well could you let me know if he turns up, here's my number, he's obviously a bad'un" "He is, I'll let you know if he appears"

-- Anonymous, April 06, 2001

Answers

-- Anonymous, April 06, 2001

Macbeth! Hardly the sort of example that our new BBS Leader should be setting now is it?

-- Anonymous, April 06, 2001

Hope the taxi driver isn't a BBSer lurker :-)

-- Anonymous, April 06, 2001

Did you end up paying the rent?

-- Anonymous, April 06, 2001

The rent was £10 a week, but we were getting robbed as the landlord would have made far more money by charging the slugs 10p a year and the ants 1p a century.

-- Anonymous, April 06, 2001

Coincidentally I'm off to Shrewsbury for the Easter weekend, if I see any down at heel ex-minicab drivers begging in shop doorways I'll drop £20 in their hat - but only if Paddy's Return does the business tomorrow.

-- Anonymous, April 06, 2001

Macbeth,

Similar era - I remember going to an away game in Nottingham with a guy from Birmingham Uni. This involved getting a coach from Gallowgate at 2:30 AM with said student. As I remember we were also accompanied by a mad glue sniffer who I last recall trying to climb into a canal lock once we'd reached Nottingham. Wasn't you was it?

-- Anonymous, April 06, 2001

This should have been titled "The Confessions" thread.

I'm afraid I once decapitated a grasshopper with a bicycle clip!

-- Anonymous, April 06, 2001

So now we know why Swift's been getting all the duf gossip from taxi drivers. It's all MacBeth's fault. Hah, bumhug.

-- Anonymous, April 06, 2001

How can anybody possibly top that one Clarky ?

-- Anonymous, April 06, 2001

Was it one of the shiny metal ones or one of those covered in plastic? Left or right?

-- Anonymous, April 06, 2001

I just hope you didn't have diarrhoea when you took that bicycle clip off Clarky!

-- Anonymous, April 06, 2001

Not that I noticed, Jacko - but I sure gave that grasshopper the sh*ts!

-- Anonymous, April 06, 2001