Overtired

Another half day’s leave to enable me to make another Greenbelt Management Group meeting.

I work on the train the whole way down (well except for the times when I’m attempting to have phone calls with Stuart and Steve (the full signal-no signal-full signal absurdity of the Manchester to London route continues to entertain), have a pre-meeting for the hour before the main event and then the meeting itself.

I’m tired and probably it’s showing.

Whilst I’m never going to be a nodding dog style participant, there’s probably a middle ground that I’m missing at the moment.

On the plus side, the work the staff and all the volunteers are doing is fantastic. The programme is fantastic, it’s being showcased on a website that’s never looked better, the site plans are looking amazing (some real changes this year that I think people are going to love), ticketing seems well in hand and things like ordering of wristbands is way ahead of the usual schedule, across the board everything is becoming more professional and better managed.

No time for a pint, if I want to make my train (and getting home at 1.30am is quite bad enough, if I miss that it’s an indirect service, with a 5 hour wait at Sheffield arriving around 7am….hmmm maybe not).

As the train pulls out of Euston I think to myself “I really want to talk to someone”, but calling people after ten pm is not good ettiquette. Happily at that very moment my phone chirps into life and it’s the lovely Sally asking if I’m on the train and I’d like a chat. What a star.

Of course our conversation is similarly punctuated, until we both give up in despair and laughter.

I mean tunnels and cuttings I understand, but sitting stationery in Milton Keynes Central, my Orange signal continues it’s 0% 100% dance unabated.

So I turn back to the laptop and continue working, until my favourite service manager (oh yes I am a regular now!) comes and sits with me for a chat about the state of the railways. After that I polish off a few more emails and the like and we’re at Macclesfield. I tidy the work away and read for the last half hour.

I can barely keep my eyes open in the taxi, and stumble into the house, up the stairs to bed.

Switch the light back on and set the alarm for 6.45am.

I do this because?...