My Business Trip to Birmingham Today

6:50am - Alarm, snooze.

Several times after 6:50am - Alarm, snooze, alarm, snooze, repeat. And then later, acknowledging time to finally get up, alarm, off.

7:55am - Alarm... Shit!! I fell asleep again! I am meant to be on the 8:23am train out of Euston!

I quickly stumble out of bed, blurry eyed, still half asleep, but realising the urgentness of this situation. I go straight to my en-suite bathroom and pee as I brush my teeth at the same time. I don't have time to do both separately. Lucky I had a shower last night!

I find a clean shirt in my cupboard. I choose one that doesn't require cuff-links. That would take too long. I put it on and only button up a couple of buttons. I see a suit hung over the railing of my stairs, I put it on. It is a cheap suit from Burton. I would prefer to wear a nicer suit on a day with business meetings, but I don't have the time to think about it.

I grab my lapop bag, and pull out some stuff I don't need. Like the container that has some remains from yesterday's lunch and the bottle of vodka I bought last night. I forget to take out the cans of dry ginger ale. I run downstairs and out of the door, forgetting to put on a coat.

I am run to the tube station. I am not fit enough to run all the way there, so I really only run bits of it. On the way there, I look out for cabs. It is already after 8am and I don't think I can get to Euston on time. But I don't see any cabs. And even if I did, in morning traffic it could well take longer than the tube.

I get to Bermondsey station, and hurry down the escalators. A Westbound train is about to arrive. Should I catch it to London Bridge and change to the Northern Line to Euston? Or should I go to Green Park and change to the Victoria line? The sign says the tube takes 12 minutes to Green Park and it is already 8:07. That means I would get to Green Park at 8:19 and would have no hope of getting my train to Birmingham. I must catch the Northern line.

I do just that and catch the tube one stop to London Bridge. I change to the Northern Line. I can't run, as the interconnecting tunnels between the Jubilee and Northern lines are too crowded.  I get to the platforms and hear a train. I make a last effort to run to the train, and manage to get on just as the doors are closing. It's unlikely, but maybe I have a chance to make it to Euston on time. After all, I have to. I have an Advance ticket for the 8:23, and it's non refundable!

Surprisingly, I manage to get a seat on the tube. It's not that full. That's strange,  as normally the Northern line is packed in the mornings. I sit down and decide to relax for a few minutes. Worrying can't help me now anyway.  I get my breath back, which is good, because I am on the verge of having an asthma attack. And I don't really suffer asthma. 

We pull into the station and I don't really pay attention to the announcement. "This is Borough. This is a Northern line train to Morden." Morden. That last bit catches my attention. Morden. Isn't that the SOUTH end of the line? Yep, I am an idiot. I got on the Southbound train, AWAY from Euston. By the time I realise this, the train has left Borough, and I am stuck on it for another few minutes. When we finally arrive at Elephant and Castle, I know I have no hope of getting to Euston on time.

8:40am - I finally arrive at Euston. I have definitely missed my train.  I think about going to the ticket counter and asking what I can do to get the next train. But then I look at the departures board. The next fast train to Birmingham is at 8:43. If I waste any time, I have no chance of making to to my 10am meeting on time. I run to platform 2 and get on the train.

8:43am - The train leaves, with me on it. I don't have a ticket for it. My ticket is for the one already 20 minutes up the West Coast Main Line. My hair is sticking up all over the place from the way I was lying on it in bed. My shirt is still mostly unbuttoned. I go into one of the bathrooms to wet my hair and fix it,  button up my shirt and put on the tie I remembered to grab at home and shove in my bag. As I am doing this, I am secretly hoping the ticket inspector has already passed.

Eventually I have to leave the bathroom. After all there are people probably waiting. There were, two of them. I wonder if the seat I had reserved for the 8:23 is available? It's not. In fact, no seat is. The train is full. I can only stand. It is going to be obvious I don't have a reservation for this train.

I stand by one of the exit doors, staring outside at the surprisingly snowy scenery, pondering how I am going to make the Powerpoint presentation standing up. Then the ticket man comes. He checks my ticket. Punches it. No problem. He checks my mandatory resevation. He starts to give it back when he spots the inconsistency. "This is for the 8:23!" He exclaims. 

"Uh. Yeah. I noticed that too when my seat wasn't available." He mumbles some comment about me standing up, says that this should mean a whole new ticket and then lets me off.  Off the hook that is, I am happy that I didn't get kicked off the train zooming up the West Coast Main Line at 120 miles per hour. I am also happy my employer's £52 for the one way ticket didn't go to waste. I am even happier I didn't have to pay for another ticket or a fine out of my own pocket. 

We get to Milton Keynes and a bunch of people get off. I email my 10am meeting participants, tell them I will be 15 minutes late and find a seat that has been vacated by someone going to Milton Keynes. I finish my PowerPoint presentation, and head to the cafe as I have finally settled down and now have an apatite. I pay £4.70 for an bad orange juice and a microwaved ham and cheese panini. I don't get a receipt because the machine is broken. No free breakfast for me.

10:08am - I make it to Birmingham New Street station and walk to my client's office. I almost freeze to death.  I regret forgetting my coat in London, especially considering it always seems to be a hell of a lot colder up North.

I make it to my meeting and one of the lawyers I am seeing with offers me a nice hot cup of tea. All is good. I have a good meeting.

11:50am - I leave my meeting having accomplished what I came to do. I walk to the next meeting, getting a little lost on the way.   As I walk down Colmore Row, it starts snowing. I start to feel even colder than I did before. Why am I only wearing this cheap suit? 

12:00pm - I have made it to the next law firm. I meet my colleague who has come up from London and we go to the meeting room to set up. The lovely Brummy receptionist offers us drinks and biscuits. I have a coffee this time. We present to a room of lawyers, and even though we talk for two hours, they seem interested. That's a good meeting!

About 2:00pm - My colleague and I leave the meeting and we are hungry. We walk to Broad Street, an area which according to the nice Brummy receptionist lady, has a lot of bars. We figure a pub lunch is deserved. We walk past the big Ferris Wheel and one of the first few bars we see is Walkabout, the chain of Aussie themed pubs. I suggest we go in there and my colleague accepts. I eat a chicken parma [typical Aussie pub meal] and have a Toohey's Extra Dry [Aussie beer].

3:45pm - We have eaten our lunch and have made it back to Birmingham New Street Station. We get on the 3:50pm train back to London and drink all the way back to the Capital. On the way home I notice quite a bit of snow on the ground and watch a beautiful sunset. It was a funny day, because it was mostly clear, but the clouds that did come along dumped some snow. Which doesn't happen all that often in England.

5:50pm - I exit Bermondsey Underground Station, back in my hood, surprised to see snow on the ground here in London too. I walk home, freezing, looking forward to getting into my house and writing a blog entry about my day.