Commuting essentials

Up early again to pick up the earlier bus to the station. I'm having my breakfast at work when I get in at the moment. Porridge at your desk makes an interesting start to the day.

After a busy day, I made it to my usual train and managed to get a seat. We set off on time but ground to a halt only a couple of minutes after leaving the station. The ominous 'will the train manager contact the driver' message went out and we sat and waited for the worst. Our train, it turned out, needed 'running repairs'. The train manager headed towards the front of the train and they then tried to get the wheels moving - apparently the wheels on our train were not working properly. After an hour and two goes to get the front and back wheels going, we went backwards to return to Paddington. They had held a train back for us but it was so busy, you could hardly get through the doors. I managed to find a different train and even got a seat. So, over an hour after I'd first got on a homeward bound train, I was finally on my way. My evening was cut short - I didn't get home until nearly 8.45 pm. Hard when you have to be back on a bus to start it all over again at 7.15 am. As a season ticket holder, I don't even get immediate compensation - I have to wait until I renew my ticket in September.

Luckily, I had my Nexus tablet loaded with some TV programmes, my recent knitting project and a fully charged mobile phone with me. It helped to relieve the boredom of our stationary train. A snack and a drink might have been a good addition this evening. I was hungry by the time I got home.