The Weird and Wonderful World of Steam

Going Out Tonight

Michael Thompson watched as a family decimated the carefully arranged shelf of beans he had spent hour tidying and sighed as they commented on the standard of the bean tins before carefully selecting the last one and walked away leaving half of the tins lying on the floor. As he walked over and began to stack them again his manager walked over and snidely said “I thought I told you an hour ago to tidy up this metre.” before walking away. Such was Michaels life an endless cycle of monotamy. His highlight of the working day was as always the moment when he checked the clock and noticed his shift had ended twenty minutes earlier that wonderful time defying clock which can drag minutes into hours until his shift had finished and time would pass so quickly. As he left the shop the manager noticed him leaving and sighed as he looked at the metre Michael had been working on and shook his head it was still a mess, calling over another member of staff the manager asked them to finish Michaels job and so the cycle of shop life continued.

Fumbling in his jacket pockets Michael finally found his car keys as a co-worker walked past “Got any plans tonight?” Steve asked
“Yeah I am going out.”
“A date?” Steve said with sudden interest
“Nothing so exciting.”
“Well see you tomorrow.” Steve said checking his watch and wondering what time the work clock would decide it actually was. Michael got into the car and turned the radio on only to find DJ’s were discussing the life of some minor celebrity in minuscule detail. His hands scrambled for one of the cassettes which littered his glove compartment. Finding one he put it in and drove home.

His home was like his life a disorganized mess. He lived in a terrace and was surrounded on both sides by friendly neighbors who liked to live in the small yards which the houses had attached to them. He greeted them before entering the houses small living room where he casually dropped his bag on the floor alongside the other random possessions of his life ranging from a pile of magazines to games boxes. The usual clutter a young man tends to attract to himself. This was of course the area of the house where he allowed guests to enter so he had attempted to keep it somewhat tidy. He walked upstairs unbuttoning his shirt and opened the master bedroom door and threw it onto the pile of unwashed shirts he kept promising himself he would get around to washing. Opening the impeccably maintained wardrobes door he picked a better shirt of finer craftsmanship and a material which actually felt like it wasn't ninety percent starch. He changed his work trousers for a fine pair of suit trousers and picked a waistcoat which matched. This was joined by a jacket and then his hands hovered over the pocket watches before he picked one with exposed workings. He closed the wardrobe door and walked over to a hat rack where he picked one of his fine bowler hats off and placed it on his head with a sense of satisfaction. He then picked at random a walking cane and left the bedroom for the smaller bedroom which lay further along the corridor.

As he opened the door the bulkhead lights flicked into life eliminating a room of complex machinery and huge valves which stood on either side of a walkway. He began to flick switches in a well rehearsed sequence and stood back as the valves and machinery came to life steam escaping from pipes as the cooling system activated. As the machinery began to spark around the walkway he knew it was ready. ‘Yes I am going out tonight’ he thought.