Down in Durham then an even longer drive made longer by silence

It's been a terrible day, a catalogue of mini-disasters. I got up at about 5am so that I could iron a shirt and get on the way to my appointment. TT didn't appreciate being disturbed so early and was very snappy when I tried to kiss her goodbye. She's been a little quiet recently, but this morning was the first time she's actually been snappy to me. Is 25 days in one another's company all it takes to start getting snappy or is the Germany thing?

My drive to customer took longer than I expected and I was really stressed by the time I arrived at 9.30. I needn't have worried though, the customer said that I couldn't do the work until their computer engineer turned up and he wasn't due until 12. That really annoyed me. I'd told TT that I'd be leaving there about that time and picking her up from Durham between 2 and 3pm.

And of course, she was already moody with me so I had to cross my fingers as I sent her an sms warning her I may be a little late. The job itself was riddled with problems such as forgotten passwords, lack of management decisions and so on. I finally left the place at 4, just in time to get an SMS from TT saying "I'm totally bored. Durham is shit. Are you nearly here?" Bugger! I was at least 70 miles away. To make matters worse, as I started to SMS a reply to her my phone battery died. Great timing eh?

My in car charger was broken so I was a bit stuck. I then remembered that I had TT's mobile number on my laptop and that I also had internet access through that. So rather than getting on the road I then had to power up the laptop, connect to the internet and desperately email a multitude of friends with the message "My phone has died and TT is in Durham and doesn't know where I am. Could you please SMS her on XXXXXX and tell her I'm on my way and I'll meet her at the train station" No one replied immediately so I just had to put my faith in my friends and get on the road.

I arrived at Durham train station but no sign on TT. I then went back to the hotel we'd stayed at. No sign of her there. I remembered that earlier in the day she'd sent me an SMS saying the only good thing in Durham was a Oz Bar so I wondered if she'd found her way back there. I tracked down the bar and although the bar staff remembered her from earlier they'd not seen her for a couple of hours.

I then had a bit of a brainwave and asked if anyone behind the bar had a spare Nokia charger. No one did. I then got really desperate and said "Look, If I put £5 in your charity box could I please borrowsomeone'ss phone and put my SIM in it to send an SMS?" One charitable bar girl agreed and the moment I put the SIM into her phone I started receiving very annoyed messages from TT. Understandable as the poor girl was stuck in a strange city with nothing to do and no idea where I was. And she also had no idea why I wasn't answering my phone or replying to her messages.

We eventually got in contact and met at the bar. Tomorrow I've got an appointment at a place called Seven Oaks which is right in the South of England. TT got in the car and didn't say a word to me the whole 310 mile journey. We didn't arrive here until about midnight, so we're now going straight to bed. At least the appointment in the morning is only about 2 miles away. I'm tired, and really sad that I've upset my girl.

Woke: Durham
Bed: Five Oaks
Done: 450 miles