This morning evolved in the same manner as slow motion film of a car crash. You could see exactly what was going to happen, and there was very little that could be done to stop it (or me). Of course I had it in my power to change the unfolding events, but didn’t - due to the somewhat ridiculous built-in notion of “not letting people down”.
While putting my new coat on this morning, I realised that I cannot wear my “triangle” bag with it. The sling strap will not sit right over the collar of the coat. At this point the clock was already reading 7:01am (I normally leave the house at 7:00am).
After fishing my normal coat - a huge duffel coat - from the stair banister, I finally left the house at about 7:03.
While absent mindedly wandering along Dedmere road towards the railway station, about halfway between home and the station, something made me check the contents of my work laptop bag. Hmmm. That lump in the pocket isn’t big enough to be the power supply.
Crap.
I then began running back towards home, which was now about quarter of a mile away. I wondered about giving up the chase and catching the next train. The next train would be full of school children, and make me 45 minutes late for work. I carried on running.
I arrived home at 7:10am, grabbed the charger, and then immediately started running back towards the train station.
At 7:16am I arrived on the platform, and slumped onto the train.
If you have ever run any kind of distance in a full winter coat, carrying not only a bag on your shoulder, but also a laptop, you might know about the thermonuclear going on in my body by this point. Add to the mix a cold I have had for the last week, and you can imagine the state I found myself in.
Thankfully my woolly hat doubled up as a pretty good flannel. At one point I wiped my face with my hand, and my fingers came back wet - not damp - wet.
It took 2 hours to dry out, and then I found myself hanging from the ceiling of an underground train for 45 minutes, trying not to faint as the last reserves of energy left me.
The day has only just started and I am already dead on my feet…