I think it's a good test of whether someone is genuinely off sick if they take a Thursday off work and then return for the Friday. Admittedly, I'd recently taken both Thursday and Friday off, but I was very sick then. On this occasion, I was ill enough to feel bad, but well enough to go in and look like a martyr as I spend the day gargling with Aspirin and taking occasional doses of Penicillin.

As before, I had another motive for going into work. I knew that I felt well enough to drive my girlfriend back to her folks' place in Reading that night and if I was well enough for that, then surely I would be well enough for work. I couldn't justify missing the one and doing the other. It wouldn't be fair and it would be cheating. So, I did what i could in the office and then it was time to get on the road for down South.

As much as I'd like to say that it was a memorable journey, it appears that it wasn't. I know that I was in good company and that we made not unreasonable time. There was a plan. We were to get to Reading, get a little sleep and then head to Southhampton the following day where my girlfriend was due to go into work. It was a plan to be short on sleep, but big on opportunities to play with the family's pet cat. I can go with that. I may be a dog person, but it's a nice cat.

Anyone who thinks I'm making a euphemism here needs to take a long hard look at their life.