Travel and Torment

So about that road trip...I decided to go to Oxford by rail instead! Only this has caused its fair share of problems - firstly I went to the station and they told me that there were no trains running south of Birmingham. So after some huffing, I went home. And sat on the doorstep for 40 mins because I'd left my keys at home so my mum could drive my car while I was away (but heaven help her if she scratches it!!).

Then I phoned my friend in Oxford (his name is Aaron) and asked him what he thought I should do, and he phoned a lot of people, and eventually I went back to the station and got on a train which was going all the way to Oxford. All good.

Until we got to York and they announced that the train would be terminating at BIRMINGHAM. Grrrrrrrrr at Virgin!

So I had to call my long-suffering friend who very kindly agreed to drive up to Brum and pick me up. What a star.

When we got to Brum, I asked a guy at the information desk where cars could pull up as I was trying to get to Oxford, and he said, 'oh, this bloke here's going to Oxford too', so I was introduced to a lovely young guy who assured me he wasn't a serial killer rapist or anything and turned out to be a History student at Leicester on his way back from a TA training weekend in Aberdeen. Anyway, he provided amusement and conversation until Aaron arrived and drove us both back to Oxford. So you see it worked out ok in the end.

And now, it's Monday - yesterday, I went with Aaron round the colleges, sneakily avoiding all the tourists by waving Aaron's student card at the many security people, and wow, were they amazing! I felt kind of stupid wandering about in all the academic glory of these gorgeous old buildings, and kept having to tell myself 'you're a doctor, you are not stupid' - the Oxford mantra, I think!

Anyway we had a nice day wandering about, it didn't really rain and there were lots of tourists to avoid and awesome buildings to see.

And today, the Thames and the Ouze are both flooding and I may well get stuck here! The trains from Oxford to Birmingham all go through Banbury, which is totally under water, and there are no replacement buses, so it looks like the only chance to get back is to get a lift to Brum again and go from there. Aaron's working at the moment (he's a med student, grad fast track so back early!) so I might have to think again.

In other news, my rota is apparently FINALLY winging its way to me through cyberspace and should be in my inbox in half an hour or so when the lady I called about it finished whatever she was doing. More on that after I've scrutinised it...