Early

One Of the manifestations of my low boredom threshold is a subconscious dislike of arriving early. I'm usually not short of entertainment - I always carry a book, iPad, camera and iPod - but even so, I'm clearly averse to arriving somewhere before I need to.

So when my travel plans are in any way compromised, I don't have any contingency to fall back on, which results in lots of running and absurdly optimistic short cuts and cursing myself.

So, after a stressful drive to Nottingham last week, when I arrived half an hour late*, today I gave myself four hours for a journey that Google Maps assures me should take two hours and thirty-eight minutes. Consequently, and despite a very relaxed coffee in Starbucks at a service station off the M6, I arrived nearly an hour early.

So, I thought I'd unwind and prepare for my meeting by reading my book**. Looking around, I found this little stub of a road, leading off a roundabout to an open field. We don't get fields like this in Cumbria: I think sunshine is required!

*I was still earlier than the people I was meeting.
** This is a valid way to prepare for a meeting. We're not discussing it any further.