54°43'45"N 1°31'22"W

Of the things I would rather not spend a day doing driving is very high amongst them. Out of things I've done, obviously; I imagine I would rather spend three hours driving and three hours sitting as a passenger than lots of other worse things which I have yet to experience actually doing sufficiently to be able to effectively compare them. The journey was broken and my driving-portion completed at the service station we usually try and stop at just outside Durham where there is the opportunity to get a semi-reliable coffee (when the single barista eventually gets through the seven-person queue) if not an edible muffin (Costa - they went for the nasty gloopy filling years ago) nor any Mini-Eggs from the small and useless shop opposite. Despite the keen overheard recommendation given by a scouse-youngster to his parent I managed to resist getting anything from the nearby Wimpy.

Before eventually leaving (I'd hoped for something like a 10am start but it was nearer quarter to two) we witnessed a flying visit from the local person of local-importance who gave an apology of sorts for bollocksing everyone around on Boxing day which was duly accepted by the father-parent. As mother-parent is the offense-causing people's post-person she's encountered them in the intervening days in her professional capacity but they appeared to show no inkling of having caused offence and an apology was therefore a surprise. We also ended up with a bonus small container of mother-baked shortbread (though not one of the nice strengthened 4l ice-cream tubs it's impossible to find these days), some local food products and a few sandwiches and fruitstuffs after which I needed no additional feeding upon reaching home. The flat was much as it was left though the boiler didn't appear to be obeying the instruction to tick itself over a couple of times a day and has had to be reset a couple of times though it doesn't appear to have suffered any pipe-freezing due to its inactivity.