Day 143 actually starts Tuesday evening as the day has been a very long one. Firstly I have been at home Monday and Tuesday and on Tuesday, a long time ago, I had agreed to drive my son to a concert with his mates in Manchester. This wasn't a problem when he booked as I was going to take a couple of days off work to use up some of my outstanding leave. Unfortunately work has got very busy and I couldn't afford the days off and needed to be in Dunkirk. I didn't want to let him down so I agreed that I would take him to Manchester and then drive him home when finished and then set off for Dunkirk with a plan to drive through the night and be there in time to start work the next day.
So I begin in Manchester, he was in his concert and I was parked up, it was getting cold so I decided to pop into a local McDonalds to get a coffee, but as I was walking there I saw a pub with the football about to start to nipped in, got a coke and watched the game. Funny but the first time I have watched a Manchester team from a TV in Manchester, have watched a game in loads of countries including Glasgow when they won the Champions League for the first time.
The concert finished about 10:30 p.m. so before 11:00 p.m. we were leaving Manchester and on our way to Goole. The first shock of the night came as we approached Halifax, there was queuing traffic, come on, at almost midnight, where were all these cars going. Meanwhile I had set my sat nav address to the hotel in Dunkirk and it was showing I still have over 400 miles to travel. I decided that was not an incentive I needed and switched it off. I know my way to the tunnel so did not need a gadget telling me I had that far to go.
I dropped my son off at just after midnight and after a short pop to the toilet I was on my way south, now this is my problem. As I joined the M62 and M18 the overhead boards were flashing to tell me that the A1 was closed just after the A614 and then the next board told me the M1 was shut at junction 20, now that is a good idea, shut both roads south. But better was to follow as more warning signs told me that the A14 between the M1 and A1 was shut, the M69 was shut and even a closure on the M6. I could not get the image of a road controller sat looking at the cameras and laughing his head off or for the younger people amongst us lhho. So I journeyed on and as I got to the M1 junction 20 left the motorway and followed the diversion signs which did the best thing ever, you see there must have been another closure and at one roundabout all four exits had a sign showing the way for diverted traffic, basically you could take your pick of any route. I was clever and followed the line of lorries and eventually found my way back to Junction 18. If you want to have a day out at a maze, don't bother paying for it, just drive around the roadways during the night and do a maze in your own car, a sort of maze drive through.
I eventually arrived at the tunnel at 5.50 a.m. and got onto an earlier train and was at the hotel checking in by 7.30 a.m. Central European Time. This gave me time for a shower and a change of clothing before going into the office.
The work today was to host a workshop for about 5 hours and have to admit by the time it was coming to an end I was shattered, and it is funny what the brain does when you are so tired. Earlier that day my Nottingham colleague had agreed to meet me in the reception at 8.00 so I could get a lift with him, well, as I was typing up some minutes just after 5.00 p.m. my eyes were actually closing as I was typing and I typed without thinking, outdoor pool and reception. I have no idea why. I think it was my brain literally in a dream. As I typed I was trying to concentrate and it was like a physical struggle to form words and make sentences. Needless to say not long after I got a lift back to the hotel and decided I wouldn't got to bed as I would wake early and not be able to sleep so had a nice hot bath and did fall asleep for about 30 minutes while I listened to some music. Then as I got out, I have decided to do a couple of emails and the blog before going to be which is where I am going now.
So thanks for reading and
Night all.
Just before I go, one thing some people may note is that occasionally you will find bad grammar or a few writing mistakes. I have thought about going through and correcting them at a later time but, and I think now is a good time to say this, but errors that are made in this blog probably tell a story of their own, either I am very busy and no time to double check things or I am so tired mistakes happen, but either way making the error tells part of the story so if you see any mistakes, don't think, oh look he's mistyped that or used the wrong word here, think instead, I wonder why he didn't notice that little mistake.
That really is all for now, so
Night All (really)
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