Breakfast

Off to Loughborough on the bus fairly early, to buy a cardboard tube for a poster to be presented at Gothla this weekend, but without taking breakfast first.

As Basil wasn't with me, I popped into the Two Monkeys Cafe in Swan Street which makes the best cuppa in Loughborough.  AND they had gluten free cheese scones too. A delicious breakfast, and a much needed breather. They serve tea in lovely china.

Everything was great yesterday on my birthday, until after I got home from dinner with my family. A mini crisis had blown up over a taxi booking for fetching Bella and Ken to Gothla from Heathrow. Their flight from Washington DC was cancelled at the last minute, but the taxi firm hadn't picked that up and had sent off a driver.

I had to stand firm and tell them that they had guaranteed to check flights and they should have realised the flight was cancelled.

Finally, I won the case that they should re book the taxi without extra charge to fetch the ladies early this morning on the Virgin Atlantic flight. And I even had to monitor the website myself to give them the flight number.

My mobile went off at 7.25am waking me out of a restful sleep. The driver was stuck in traffic at Heathrow. Then ensured an exchange about how he would recognise them as he didn't have their cellphone number. Whatever happened to cardboard placards with names? He certainly had the names.

Eventually, with a bit of toing and froing between me and Bridie, Ken and Bella were collected and safely deposited in the hotel in Leicester.

This evening, the same company sent a driver to fetch Morgana from Luton Airport. He told a tall story about her having said she had got another taxi from another firm, so he hadn't collected her. Well, several phone calls later, especially with a bemused Morgana, the firm accepted that they would have to turn round the driver at no extra cost to us. That driver was telling massive lies.

I'll never use that company again.

The upshot is that I have felt below par all day and must get some serious sleep.