Thursday 9th October 2014

Monday.

And the working week comes round again. The wind is due to blow and the rain fall, so there is no point in driving to Ramsgate, as there will not be a desk for me. I settle down for a day at home. The cats come in, already soaked, get in the table and drip onto my work laptop. What, you want food or attention or just to tick me off?

At lunchtime one of the final acts in work at the house happens when the skip is removed from the fornt of the house, meaning we all get the parking space back. The lorry driver says how nice the house looks. Which was kind of him, but then he’s not wrong. I see that behind him the clouds are building again, so he expects to get wet as he continues his rounds that day.

I had begun the day with another allergy attack, and the extra round of drugs means I am getting drowsy in the afternoon. Once I am sure I have caught up on my mails and other work, I switch the computer off and take to the sofa to watch the rain fall down the new windows. My eyelids drop and I snooze for a couple of hours.

The evening comes, the rain continues to hammer down outside, it looks like November, which it will soon enough be. The cats don’t want to go outside, so I feed them tea and prepare dinner which is going to be chorizo hash. Again. As we like it so much.

Tuesday.

I am booked on the evening flight to Denmark, which means I have to work some of the day at least before travelling up. Outside it is a wonderfully bright day. Looks a good day for travelling.

The morning passes and at midday I switch the computer off, and go upstairs to pack. All is in control.

As I eat lunch there is a sudden massive loud clap of thunder and all the lights go out. The come straight back on, but the storm rages for a few minutes with large hailstones turning the back garden into tundra for a few minutes until the ice melts.

I ring up a taxi company to run me into town to catch the train. It arrives on time, which was nice. He was the most careful and slowest taxi driver I have ben with, although to maintain standards he did not use indicators once. So it goes.

Once inside the station concourse, it was a scene of chaos. It seems that one of the bolts of lightning had hit the railway’s signals, and all trains were cancelled. But just to make things interesting, the train that had been delayed on platform 1 for 45 minutes had just pulled out with no warning. This went to Stratford. The staff had no news. The station manager had no news.

I tried to call Jools to see if she could come and pick me up to take me to Ashford, as the problems were just between Dover and Folkestone, but the call went straight to voice mail. After a bout ten minutes, news came that a train was en route to us from Ramsgate, and would take us to Ashford. Probably. I have to say, I had doubts, but sure enough the train came into view and we all piled on.

We ran to Folkestone and then onto Ashford with no troubles. It was terminated at Ashford, but the next train to London was due in a few minutes, so no worries. And indeed that was the case, I got to stand, but I did not mind as it is just 25 minutes to Stratford, and then a walk to the DLR station. And finally a twenty minute trundle through the old docks to the airport, and from another door of the train my colleague, Gary, emerged, so we ended up travelling together, at least to Billund where our paths would divide.

We travel up on the train, check in and then head to the airport restaurant where we both have steak and ale pie, which to be honest at seventeen quid each was so overpriced it was almost hilarious. Almost. The pie was the size of a saucer, and just came with an egg cup full of shredded cabbage, and both had just been microwaved. Sheesh, and so at £45 was pretty pricy, but the company paid, which is why they charge these prices.

The flight was half an hour delayed, but I got a window seat as usual, sitting on the port side, so when we took off and banked north I was treated to a view of London and The City bathed in the golden light of an autumnal sunset. It would have made a wonderful shot if I would have had a camera with me, instead you will just have to take my word for it.

With a strong tailwind, we arrived in Denmark in under 90 minutes, but we treated with views of thunderstorms below us as we flew over northern Holland.

It was ten by the time we got off the plane, cleared customs and got our cases back, and Gary and I walked to the car hire place. I was asked what car I wanted, a couple of seven seater MPVs or a Qasqai. I chose the latter, and was soon loading it up and heading out onto the deserted Danish roads for a blast up to Arhus.

Both the bar and restaurant had just closed when I arrived at the hotel, so I took a bottle of coke upstairs and chilled before turning in for the night, knowing that I would have to be up nice and early for the meetings I had the next day.

Wednesday.

The alarm went off at half six, but I had been awake since half five. Nowhere near enough sleep, I looked in the mirror to see two bloodshot eyes looking back at me. OK, lets get this done!

I dressed, went down for breakfast and made my way to the office, at least the traffic was light before seven, and I was at a desk before ten past.

The day passed. The customer came, we had a meeting, lunch, more meeting before they left at half three. Just time to catch up with my boss and colleagues before I decided the traffic was quiet enough to try to get back to the hotel.

I had an early dinner, something off what they called the Jamie Oliver menu; anyway, smoked salmon fish cakes followed by pulled pork was not too bed, and I had resisted the burger and fries option. Time then to call Jools before the bed called and I was tucked up by half eight zedding away.