The real problem with driving to work

This morning, I had a meeting at 9.30. So I thought I would leave the house at about 7.45, should be there around 9ish, meaning that I would at least have the time to make a refreshing cup of tea and maybe check my emails before the meeting started.

What actually happened was that there was a car on fire on the M42, which meant that the southbound carriageway was closed. No real complaints there, these things do tend to happen at the least convenient times. Unfortunately, by the time I heard of this on the Five Live travel news, I had passed the point of no return - although I wasn't caught in the queue yet, I had passed the previous junction and couldn't turn back.

To cut along story short, while waiting in the traffic, I dug out the satnav and followed a rather circuitous route through the heart of Tamworth and Sutton Coldfield. Between 8 and 9, town centres can tend to be quite busy, particularly when faced with a volume of diverted traffic that they are not used to.

So it was 10am when I pulled into the car park at work. The trouble was that, by now, I was absolutely bursting for the toilet. My bladder had obviously trained itself for a journey of about one to one-and-a-half hours, so the last hour was not fun. To make matters worse, you have to remember that I was constantly in a sitting position, having to move my left leg up and down to use the clutch, and wearing a seltbelt. All of these can combine to add extra pressure onto an already struggling bladder!

As I turned the engine off, I grabbed my phone and satnav (so they wouldn't get nicked) and ran for the loo. After that, I went back to the car to get my bag and change my shoes (I feel uncomfortable driving in shoes, especially in traffic, so I wear trainers when I am driving), before rolling up the stairs to join our meeting. At which point the team applauded me simply for having made it to work. I should be late more often...