Alnmouth

Oh dear, another blurry blip - this one not due to double glazing or passing snowstorms, but because of the train windows being smeared all over with small greasy hand prints. I had travelled down to Newcastle in the rareified atmosphere of 1st class, due to meeting the lovely Sandra on the platform at Waverley. Had a semi-productive day in the Gateshead office before heading back. My booked seat turned out to be at one side of a table, on the other side of which were two small girls. They were just the outliers of a huge turbulent pack of....six?...yr olds from a reputable school in Edinburgh. The old people in the carriage (i.e. anyone over the age of 18) tried hunkering down under headphones, to no avail. Unfortunately I had taken an angry pill again last night, after having stopped for a few days. (The angry-ness is just one of the regrettable side effects; the main purpose of the pill is to prevent wheezing in the wake of coughing). Thus it was better that I did not try to engage the shrieking girlies in merry banter, as I would probably have ended up spitting and snarling anyway. I spent some time trying to cultivate the 1000 yard stare, in the style of the Scottish wild cat .