Saturday 26th October 2013

Friday (continued)

And so at two I pack up my stuff and head to the car. It had all been quite a day for me. I had two project meetings, both of which showed my all the work that goes on in wining and securing an order of this size. And now I am part of all of that. i complete the first draft of the documents I needed to, although they are far from perfect of course.

I drive to Billund in bright sunshine, but I just wanted to get to the airport, check in and relax; so I don't go seeking out any churches, and I am at the airport within an hour, checked in and making my way to the executive lounge as my old boss has a loyalty card which means he can take a guest into the lounge. So, i power the laptop up, fire a couple of e mails off before i lose the connection, so pack it away again, pour myself one of those great free beers and get out the Johnny Vegas book out and get stuck into it.

Our flight is called, so we make our way to the gate, climb onto the BA liveried Dornier, and after a short wait, the engines fire up and we taxi out into the twilight. In the seven or so weeks since I was last in Denmark, the nights have really drawn in, and soon after take off it would be dark.

we cock a snook at gravity and leap into the air, and once we enter the clouds I open the book wanting to finish it by the time we land. I pass on the 'meal', drink and ice cream, and as we descend through the low clouds over Essex, I see the familiar lights of Southend far below. The cabin lights get turned out, and the view is even clearer. We turn towards the north Kent coast, and we bank over Chatham. There is two sets of flashes beside the M2 down below, showing the pantographs arcing: a Eurostar heading towards Europe.

Down and down we go, the winds get stronger and so the planes leaps and twitches about. As we head over the Thames at about 100 feet we lurch towards the ground. 'I like land' i said to the passenger in front of me! He said he was worried too.

But we land without any further drama, and for a change we have just a 5 minute wait at immigration. Jools was waiting for me in the arrival hall, so we kiss and then head to the DLR station and begin the final leg of the journey home.

We catch a crowded Javelin back to Ashford, there was even standing in the corridors between the seats, whilst some passengers have bags on their seats. Greedy and stupid people.

We change at Ashford, to find the 20:07 has been delayed, so we get on that and are home some 15 minutes early. time enough to put the kettle on for a cuppa and a supper of beef sandwiches and pain au raison.