Where did it go?

What a weekend that was.

Friday saw me getting the early Easyjet flight from Inverness to Luton to meet up with my family and best mate for a day and a half of drinking and general partyness.

The occasion? My Nephew's 18Th Birthday.Meeting up with family really brings home to you about how time seems to speed up as you get older. Life is like a roll of toilet paper-the closer you get to the end,the faster it goes........

I was met at the airport by my best mate (who shall remain nameless) and we started the drive to Ipswich.It's always surprised me about just how bad the roads are in east Anglia.I used to think that the roads here in Speyside were bad,but at least a reasonable speed can be maintained.Even if there were no signs telling you that you were in the county of Suffolk,you could tell by the instant drop in speed as you cross the border.Tectonic plates move faster.

Maybe the vast amount of excellent traditional country pubs is the reason for the slow speeds. I reckon that if I lived there again,I wouldn't be in any hurry to leave them behind either.By the time we reached Ipswich,we had stopped twice already.

As we were a bit early for the party and had a bit of time to kill,where could we go but another pub.This time it was The Fat Cat,not far from the Woodbridge Road.It's been a while since I've been in a pub that had quite so many real ales available at very reasonable prices.Normally I'd expect to pay over £3 a pint,but this place was charging between £2.30-£2.90.

You would have been proud of me as I managed to sample 4 in the short time that we had before the main event.Some many beers but so little time.The rest of the evening passed in a blur,but I remember Karaoke and beer races with some of my nephews friends.You'll no doubt be reassured to know that yes,I did win....

The next day arrived far too quickly and with a slightly thick head I decided not to attempt going for a run on the streets of Ipswich.The best thing was coffee and lots of it.Coffee seems to be a great drink to reminisce over,especially when everyone else is slightly hung over too.

The weekend was never going to be the sort where you can sit and take your time over things,and before I knew it,it was time to travel the 40 miles on the road to hell,otherwise known as the A12 to Lowestoft.Arrangements had been made to visit various folk and appointments had to be kept.

Why is it that people seem to think that IT folks are always wanting to fix computers? Where ever we seemed to go,there was always a virus riddled laptop awaiting for us with the words "would you mind just taking a look at this?" It's quite a skill that some people have to be able to drop a support request into an otherwise innocent conversation.....

Saturday night was spent just relaxing with and having the sort of conversations that only best friends can have,with yet more wine and beer and some insane wasabi crisps! A strange mixture,but let me assure you that it was a great combination.

The next day was a bit of rush back down to Luton Airport and I only just managed to catch the flight back to Inverness.Journeys to airports are always pretty quiet affairs as in one way I didn't want to leave,but I really needed to see Sara and Callum again.I was really looking forward to the peace that being away from them for the weekend would bring,but I spent most of the time wondering what they were doing.

I guess that everyone in a while we should all make that kind of trip.
It's good to remind ourselves what we really want and need....


Look after yourselves