Across the Irish Sea

An incredibly long and busy day today. Up early and after breakfast I drove into Salisbury to take my car into the Mercedes dealer to have the defective offside headlamp replaced. This was done very quickly but allowed me time to have one of Mercedes’ decent cups of coffee. I was then lucky to get into one of the last remaining places in the Salisbury office car park in time for a meeting with the new acting HR Case Management Consultant at 9 a.m. We discussed a number of difficult cases and in particular one which requires notification to the Employment Tribunals of the number of witnesses we will need. Following this meeting I had about two hours to deal with a large number of e-mails and enquiries – especially matters relating to my trip to the Isle of Man. Leaving the office at 12 noon I returned home for lunch and to finalise packing before setting out for Liverpool. The trip up to Liverpool Airport went well apart from delay at the upper part of the M6 where there had been an accident close to Knutsford Services which added about 30 minutes on to my journey time. Fortunately I had allowed enough time for such problems and I parked the car and checked in within 15 minutes of arriving. Passing through security – again quick and uneventful, I waited in Departures a little worried as there was thick fog outside. Asking a ground staff member if the weather might cause any delay to my flight, I received a typical Scouse humorous response of “I’ve known planes take off and land safely in this stuff but it all depends upon who’s at the wheel”. With those words of comfort I boarded my plane on time and we took off punctually through thick fog. Although I had a window seat I could see absolutely nothing and it was a surreal experience to take off from Liverpool and land at Ronaldsway on the Isle of Man without seeing anything of the journey. After reclaiming my baggage – which took only two minutes, I was greeted by a taxi driver who took me to my hotel in Douglas. We had an interesting conversation about the Isle of Man Steam Packet Co. ships. My hotel is on the seafront next door to the Gaiety Theatre where, a few years ago, I saw a performance of Cavalcade by Noel Cowerd and bumped into a family I knew from Old Clee, Grimsby. After phoning Sara I then went downstairs to the “Sir Norman Wisdom’s Bar” – named after the famous comedian who lives on the island – and enjoyed roast salmon with French beans and capers washed down with an Argentine chardonnay. I had a short walk along the seafront to clear my head before I spent some time reading through all the papers needed for tomorrow’s court hearing here in Douglas. I ended the day by watching Match of the Day – such a pity that Liverpool couldn’t manage a win against Wigan tonight – and drafting this blog.