Gridlocked!

Tuesday. 9.30 a.m. Yet another typical autumn day, sunny but chilly.

Alfie and I have been out and walked around Oldbrook Green. I'm shocked to see so much litter related to fireworks, which I could hear last night being let off. It seemed to go on for several hours and, looking at the rubbish, someone had spent a small fortune on them. No thought though, to take their rubbish away with them. The sign for Oldbrook Green (which is under the umbrella of Campbell Park Parish Council.) clearly states 'no fireworks'. I think it was more to do with Diwali rather than Guy Fawkes Night, but it's still a lot of noise and upsets animals. Alfie doesn't seem to take any notice, and then we have Halloween to contend with next Monday. I'd love to know who the people that left the rubbish expect to clear it up. There are plenty of bins around the Green, so why not place some of it there, or, at least, take it home with you.

2.35 p.m. For the last year or so (I think it may be longer, but I'm not sure exactly.) I have been having a weekly telephone call from someone who is a volunteer at Age UK. His name is David, and we have an hour's chat for around an hour. I have never met him, until today. I had thought some while ago that he should have my mobile number and possibly my email address because he rings me on my landline number. The last time he phoned last week he said that someone had suggested to him that we meet up for a coffee so I came up with some possible places to meet, one being Costa at the retail park in Bletchley (along with Pets At Home, which is where Alfie goes to have his regular haircut (sorry, but the term 'groom' has another, negative connotation these days, although not the same as dog-grooming.) It was strange meeting someone who you'd spoken to but never actually met. He said he knew what I looked like because when I emailed him, my photo came up, which I wasn't aware of. David was waiting outside Costa as I drew up in the car and then we went inside Costa. It was something of a shock to discover it virtually empty. I say this, because if you go to one of the two Costa branches in the central Milton Keynes shopping centre, at the end of the shopping centre opposite Marks and Spencer and the other, which is on Middleton Hall and near John Lewis, you will no doubt find each one busy and will have to queue. I have often glanced into each one before deciding whether to queue up and then often leave to find another place to eat and have coffee, such as Cafe Nero or Pret A Manger which are also in Middleton Hall. As I say, it was virtually empty of other customers and it didn't take long to order my latte and ham and cheese toastie.

We spent around two hours chatting and by one o'clock I thought it was time to return home. I know that the car park is likely to have around a two-hour limit on how long you can remain parked and if you're not careful you can be fined. They have cameras which record your car's registration number and from that, they can find your address, and then you get a lovely letter asking you to pay a hefty fine, which I really don't want.

It was well I came out of Costa when I did because the whole car park was clogged up with cars attempting to leave, and it took me some time to get out of my space. Not many drivers were willing to let me into the queue and the queue moved at a snail's pace towards the exit. It then took a good deal of time to get into the traffic on Bletcham Way and eventually onto the large roundabout, which was more than ever clogged up. I could not discover what had caused this chaos. Possibly either there had been an accident nearby, possibly on the A5 or M1, or it was the result of roadworks, which are currently ongoing throughout the Milton Keynes grid road system, much of it for resurfacing works.