Friday 13th Sept

Another day, another road trip. Nottingham today and I’m chauffeuring the eldest and a friend of hers. We are making good time until we get within 5 miles and the traffic grinds to a halt. This as it turns out is a portent of things to come later in the day. For now though the sat-nav finds me an alternative route and we arrive in plenty of time.

After sitting through a subject overview with the eldest, I leave the girls to look around and go for a wander. The sun is out and it makes the campus look inviting. England at its best. I end up back at the car with a coffee, reading my book in the sun, a pleasant way to pass an hour. I am however frequently interrupted by the exasperated shouts of people who can’t remember where they parked, and are walking up and down row after row, trying to find their cars. How difficult is it to remember where you parked the car? I mean if your kid wants to go to University you’d hope they could help, but no; the teenagers’ legendary sense of direction is in evidence.

On the way home the Friday(13^th) afternoon traffic strikes. First of all on every dual carriage way it appears one lorry doing 60mph is trying to overtake one doing 59mph, causing typical tailbacks. There is then a large slow moving vehicle blocking the road. This is followed by queues to get on the M6, and so I decide to turn around and go up to the next junction, meaning I run into school traffic, and more jams. At the next M6 junction there are more queues to get on the motorway, and so I decide to go cross-country. This leads to interminable delays, one after another, as lots of other people seem to have had the same idea. It reminds me why I’m glad not to have to drive for a living. I used to do a lot of miles around the country, and it’s something I really don’t miss. We eventually get home safe and sound, which is the important thing. A two hour journey having taken three and a half.

Yours admiring the countryside from a stationary car in a long queue.

Jay