(Haha! I have once again managed to circumvent the hotel’s internet authorisation and get online for free! I am like a real-life robocop, except with a computer instead of a gun)

Today is a great day to be alive. Or on a train, at least.

The sky is blue and cloudless, and I’m sat in an almost empty train carriage, watching the lush green fields, cows, sheep, tractors, ponds and houses stream by. I have my laptop out on the table in front of me, I have some documents to my right, and I have just finished a Burger King meal. I have my ipod with me, and I’m listening to it through headphones (currently “Pretend we’re dead” by L7 is playing). I feel really cheerful, and I’m looking forward to the landscapes and sea that await me as the train takes me to Edinburgh. I’m almost tempted to get my camera out and take some photos, so glorious is the day, but that might seem a little strange. I think for now, I’ll just sit here, enjoy the scenery, and reminisce as I pass through all the places where I have happy memories (Durham, Lindisfarne, Berwick-upon-Tweed and all the rest).

The train even has wireless internet access, although it costs money to access it - money which I’m not going to spend. It does have a free little map of where the train currently is, not unlike those you get when you go on a long-haul flight. Being a nerd, I’ve actually made a screengrab of it, which I’ll post on this entry, when I get the chance!

I’m staying in Edinburgh overnight, at a hotel I know fairly well; although they charge for internet there, I have cunningly found a way of bypassing their authentication system and getting it for free, so hopefully this can go up tonight (Thursday night!). Tomorrow, when I’m done with various work meetings, I hope to spend a few hours strolling around Edinburgh; it’s a truly wonderful city, and I’m really looking forward to it. Then, it’s back to Leeds, although I think I’m going to miss the bonfire night celebrations in Rothwell Park. Them’s the breaks.