The Pleasures of the Commute

0735 hours, coach D (still no free wifi). Taxi transport to the station today. Car is left in the village; down Dave's at Tarvin Garage Services with a mysterious dent (note the James Bond movie-esque product placement).

Darkening grey clouds scuttle westward past Beeston Castle as we snake our way first to Crewe and then on to the capital. Quite what the early protectors of the Castle would have thought if they were to have looked down from their ramparts on today's busy scene. Laptop touch typists and spreadsheet-cell fillers sit amongst the sleepers and snorers who are either more efficient at, or less interested in, contributing to UK GDP.

The bloke next to me applies finishing touches to his 'Portfolio' slides while the lady across the way scribbles notes on an 'HR on-boarding' strategy. A mother negotiates 'just-in-time' child care arrangements on her mobile, competing for the air waves with the important salesman who dictates a stream of business jargon to his virtual PA. A woman finishes a call with her partner with a publically audible "Love you" having in the same breath checked he had taken the meat out of the freezer for tea. This hive of activity shames me into reaching for my own laptop where, now more confident of a richer business vocabulary, I set about finishing my own deliberations on a software roadmap! Never mind, just 2 more sleeps before I am reunited with my shiny, dent free motor. "Dave..."