20th December:
Horrendous locum shift at previous workplace. Taken advantage of; had to trial a new "system" of unblockable A&E referrals (predictably resulting in a doubling of workload); minimal senior support between 1-5pm; and witnessing a tragedy caused by others but cleaned up partially by me and mainly by a good friend.
21st December:
Trafford Centre for last minute gift gathering in what was nearly a stress-free visit (with a free 30 minute round trip walking to the car park)
Present wrapping.
Romantic evening with Dave
22nd December:
Last minute gift buying in Preston.
Set off for Southampton via Manchester.
Crashed car into central reservation as a result of combination of knobheads on M40 near Warwick. Mental overtaking lorries, snow and ice in the road, drivers leaving less than 50cm gap, drivers cruising from lane to lane at 70mph+ and a previous accident in lane 3 all led to the longest ten seconds of my life as I simultaneously made the best of an inevitable skid situation and figured out how not to die by crashing into traffic or a car stuck on lane 3.
M40 closed for 30 minutes as I was accident No. 12 that evening.
Spent evening chatting to Highways Agency and then a recovery guy who was like my angel.
Home and quite lengthy hugs with family.
Not a great night's sleep.
23rd December:
Insurance company, figuring out work and calming down.
Last of present wrapping.
Some Glee DVD.
Evening of Coach Trip by the fire.
Christmas Eve
Celebrated Polish Christmas with my family although the dreary "Midnight" Mass at 8.30pm even annoyed my ultra-Catholic grandmother.
Delicious borscht courtesy of my new aunt Elena!
Christmas Day
Christmas with both sets of grandparents for first time in many years. Wonderful!
Boxing Day
Glee catches on as my dad happens to see the Madonna episode and then mum gets in on the action. Third of the series covered in one day. Brother not impressed AT ALL!
27th December
Our old New Zealander friend Ros comes to stay for a day or three and we talk about food lots. And have a drink or three.
28th December
Last day at home. See Lozza for lunch and end of year catch up in Jolly Sailor.
Supposedly flying home (now that car is in a garage in Manchester somewhere) but fog in Southampton prevents this (after a thoughtful 4 hour wait in the airport).
29th December
Up at 5am to try and get flight... cancelled again and train is going to cost about £100. Have to cancel work and then feel guilty as every news bulletin declares the day "the busiest of the year" for A&Es.
Take a walk around foggy Woolston and go to the shore to listen to the cacophony of fog horns despite zero visibility.
30th December
Poor information from FlyBE and BAA mean arrive at airport to check in for 2nd rebooking only for flight to then be delayed for 4 hours.
Arrive back in Manc a mere 39 hours after initially suspected.
Misti saves the day by driving me to garage to find car not as damaged as could have been (good safety rating huh?)
Let's just say I'm looking forward to 2011!
Please drive safely.
