Trains and Planes

Woke up slightly disorientated this morning in Malcolm’s flat at 5.30 a.m. Then I remembered that I was in Liverpool and going into Manchester with him on the train. Malcolm woke about an hour later and after a cup of tea and a couple of rounds of toast we set off in my car to Liverpool South Parkway Station – a free park and ride car park with easy access to Liverpool John Lennon Airport and the rail lines to Manchester, Wigan and the North and Crewe and London. It is situated at the site of the old Allerton Station and is a fabulous new interchange. For all future visits to Manchester I will use this as for a return fare (in the peak) of only £14 it saves fuel and expensive parking in Manchester. We caught the 7.52 a.m. Norwich train which arrived at Manchester Piccadilly at 8.40 a.m. I arrived at our offices at 9.00 a.m. I discovered that my assistant was signed off work for another week and my secretary was off sick with a stomach bug. It seems more and more work is falling on me to do with absolutely no prospect of additional resources. No wonder I am feeling so tired. I spent the whole morning with our Case Management Consultant, another Sara B, and the work never let up. I had three meetings in addition to telephone conferences with Sara B present. The issues to be considered were tough ones but we managed to put together some good solutions. It is a real pleasure working with her. I returned to Liverpool in the late afternoon and spent an hour reading through some Manx affidavits in a coffee shop on the Mersey Retail Park at Speke before setting off for Liverpool Airport. Parking was a little trickier than last time but I still managed to park and get checked in by 6.15 p.m. My flight to Ronaldsway was away early and I arrived in the Isle of Man some 15 minutes ahead of schedule. Unfortunately I discovered that I had left my security pass at, ironically, Liverpool Airport Security when they took it off me to put it through the scanners. I will need to ring Liverpool Airport tomorrow. Once in Douglas I dined at the Millenium Sagaar Indian Restaurant and although the food was excellent I couldn’t eat it because it was getting late and I was so “dog-tired”. I returned to my hotel room (actually its two rooms!) for an early night. I have a really busy day tomorrow.in the Manx Deemster’s Court.