School day

Up at 6am this morning and on the train up to the big smoke. Had a wonderful experience at Waterloo. A number 4 bus was waiting at the stop so I quickly joined the queue and flashed my Oyster card at the machine, ready to sprint for a seat. Unfortunately the machine wasn’t happy with me and gave the sort of sound you expect on Family Fortunes when the word the family has picked was NOT one that the 200 people surveyed came up with.

I immediately realised my Oyster card was devoid of cash and did a quick 360° and left the bus. I had to find somewhere to recharge my card. Quick! And then I realised I had a pocket full of cash, having forgotten to hand over Mirinda’s money. I walked up to the next bus stop (where she should be) but, though the queue was very long, she was nowhere to be seen. I gave that up as a lost cause and went down to the Tube to put some dosh on my card.

Returning to the bus stop, another number 4 bus was waiting so I hopped straight on. The bus then proceeded very slowly to uni.

Call me odd, but I like a nice calm arrival followed by a coffee and maybe a visit to the loo before a leisurely stroll to class. Never happened! It was all rush and tear about, particularly as it was the first class in a new room and I had to find it as well. I did manage a quick loo stop but otherwise arrived, huffing and puffing in class.

Class went reasonably well and I was very surprised when the lecturer called me by name (I’m always certain I’m pretty invisible but clearly not today). At lunch I decided I could sprint down to Charterhouse and drop Mirinda’s money off and this I did. The uni is about 20 minutes round trip (walking very quickly) so I knew I could make it. I did but was pretty warmed up by the time I sat in the park outside the uni to drink a hastily purchased coffee. Ten minutes later is back to class for the second half of the day’s learnin’.

I HATE RUSHING!

At least going home was all easy going. I managed to get one of the good seats and worked on my essay all the way to Farnham. The poodles were VERY happy to see me.

I just want to say how much I love the Oyster card…except when it’s empty. Clearly.