The day where it took forever to get to work !!!

Well that's a bit of an overstatement I suppose .... but this morning did not go according to plan.

I awoke bright and early and got my morning hating self breakfasted, showered and out the door at 08:15. Bang on time .... "Superb" thinks I but somewhere someone was having other ideas.

I travel a very busy stretch of motorway (The M40) every morning, and I have done for the last 13 years, so I'm used to random variations in traffic speed and density but this morning was a jam of quite gobsmackingly awesome proportions !!!!

I passed 2 gantries with information displays before hitting the traffic neither of which had any info concerning the automotive nightmare that lay in wait for me (Thanks for that Highways Agency)
And so ... a scant 20 minutes into my journey I came to a grinding halt and then over the course of the next couple of hours crept the remaining 20 odd miles to the office ... Yes that's right it took me about 2 hours to cover 20 miles !!!!

Fortunately I had my laptop with me, albeit, in the boot of the car. Not to worry though after remaining stationary for 10 minutes with the engine off (not normally something you can do in the outside lane of the M40 that's for sure !!) I go out and retrieved my trusty work unit and had a quick chat with a couple of the other stranded motorists and, much to our annoyance, a passing motorcyclist .....
Given the company I work for it's not unheard of for movies to be lurking in my bag and today was thankfully no exception so I sat down to watch Die Hard 4.0 (although I'm still mystified as to what that was doing in my bag).
Viewing however was cut short when the traffic started slooooooooowly moving again ... Just as the film was getting good too.

Much creeping and wondering what carnage lay ahead to cause this massive delay I got to the cause ...... A pile up consisting of at least 9 vehicles which didn't look to healthy at all.
A fairly broad spectrum of motorised conveyances went into making up this twisted snake of metal ... There were several cars, a few white vans and more worryingly a couple of lorries too.
All of which were looking very buckled and bent. Most worrying though was the poor car that had been sandwiched between the two lorries !!!!! I'm hoping the driver made it out in one piece but the car itself was destroyed and to add insult to injury I think it was an Aston Martin !! (I say think as it really was that bent out of shape) ...

Anyway with the chaos passed and all 4 lanes of the motorway now open I was free to finish my journey to work eventually walking through the office door at 11:15 ... Yup that's a journey time of 3 hours, when it normally takes me 45 minutes at the most.

Generally not a good way to start the day .... but when I think about it, it could have been worse.

I could have been driving the Aston ........

Impending Wealth Diminishment

So we reach the month of November ..
Que the local "yoof massive" purchasing fireworks that they shouldn't be getting their grubby little mits on and setting them off on the green outside the flat.
Now the majority of the time I'll turn a blind eye and let them mess about with explosives as they're not my kids, however when they're doing it at midnight it's not exactly inspiring goodwill towards them ... but as yet my wishes to hear a scream resulting from a skin graft enducing burn haven't been fullfilled
(does this make me a bad person ?)

The other thing about November .... The pre-holiday season gaming flood !!
It seems that the gaming industry is conspiring to make me a very very poor person indeed ...
After PGR4 and The Orange Box arriving at the end of October they're now forcing me to purchase Call Of Duty 4 this week (no honestly they are .. there's a gun to my head and everything).
Next week I get a week off but the week after that there's Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action on the 360 and Super Mario Galaxy on the Wii
The week November 23rd sees the release of Guitar Hero 3 and Mass Effect. The words essential purchase spring to mind for these two. To say that I'm excited about Mass Effect would be an understatement and Guitar Hero 3 ..... Well it's Guitar Hero .. Nuff Said :)

So in the space of about 6 or 7 weeks I'm spending approx. £300 on games .. OUCH !!!

I know Christmas is just around the corner and all that ,but to be honest, given the track record of certain parties (who shall remain nameless) not getting the most obvious of hints it looks like the only way I'm going to get hold of all these goodies is if I buy them myself.
Then the only problem is finding the time to play them all !!!! I know I don't sleep much but this may stretch even my capabilities .....

Hopefully I'll be able to get my mits on Call Of Duty 4 this evening .... Sometimes I love working for this company ;)
So stay tuned for some first impressions