Freightless at Cardiff station

So this is what a freight train looks like without any freight loaded on to it! 

I had a day of travels and travails. Got up in the morning, finished packing, and phoned the company that had supplied the freezer that didn't have an alarm. The adviser told me she'd phone back with so e alternative products. I was briefly excited. 

However, by the time she did ring back, I'd had a look too, and realized there weren't any like-for-llikes. I asked for compensation for having been misinformed about a product, and they offered me a miserly 20 quid. I decided to accept it, because I had a train to catch, and I really could not be bothered to spend many more hours searching for unicorns, need sending back an otherwise perfectly suitable freezer. Life is too short. I'll spend the refund on an externally fitted door alarm instead. 

Steve drove me to the station, and I settled down into a seat on a very crowded train to Swindon. Changed there, for a mercifully quieter train to Cardiff. Once there, I explored the mini M&S store on platform 0, where I think trains no longer run, then admired the city's architecture. Went back up to platform 3A to await the Carmarthen train. When it arrived, it pulled onto 3B, and was soon rammed  with travellers, though many got off at Bridgend, and I never had to stand. 

The train proceeded along the coast at glacial speed, and I realised we'd never get to Camarthen in time for my connection. Checked the app again and found that the subsequent train has just been cancelled! At Camarthen we couldn't exit the brand new train for several minutes, because the brand new central locking system had failed. When the door release lights finally lit up, a loud cheer went up from the anxious passengers.

Once on the platform, a series of harassed official directed us to some buses across the road, and we took an impossibly long route to Tenby, before being met by one of the retreat facilitators, who told us that we had passed by his door on the bus several minutes before! He drove us back to Ludchurch, where the retreat house is situated. By this time I'd been joined at Camarthen by another retreatrant, H.

On arrival, we were shown to our rooms and offered tea downstairs. After an interval to regain our composure, we had the first restorative/seasonal yoga session in the purpose-built yoga studio, which is lovely. This was followed by supper, and conversation. 

Some of the people were even later in arriving, so the evening meditation was cancelled, so that they could rest when they got there, and those of us who wanted could escape to a quiet space. I went upstairs to my room, because I'd spied a desk with an enormous TV on it. Great was my disappointment when I realised that it was not connected to any input source, and therefore there'd be no picture! Maybe it's normally connected to something else: from the set up, it looks as if someone might be working from home during the week, using a massive screen.

The house is fine, and modern. My bedroom has a sofa in front of the radiator, which is odd, but I really can't be bothered to change it around. To be honest, I'm not sure it needs a sofa,  just for me. 

The house is quiet now, so I'm going to turn in, so I do not t miss optional yoga at 8 am tomorrow.