Monday I was working from home. I did some preparation for the week ahead, researching strategically the current state of higher education and the future challenges they may be facing.

I had an away day in London (and some other meetings). I decided to take the train, which I knew would be challenging as the lines were closed between Weston and Bristol all week due to engineering work. The plan was to take the train to Taunton and then take the train there to London.

Upon arriving at my local station I checked the National Rail app to see that my train was “delayed” and no indication when it would be arriving. It then magically appeared, so I got on the train and it headed down to Taunton. Had a bit of a wait at Taunton, so went to Starbucks for a coffee. I ordered a flat white.

Train arrived and I boarded. Then there was an announcement about ticket validity. Well, that was annoying. My super off peak ticket was not valid on the 09:43 from Taunton. Now needed to wait for the next train.  At least I managed to get off on time. I waited on the platform for the next train. This was a slower five carriage train, which stopped at many more stations. The previous train would have stopped at Reading and then Paddington only. This one was stopping at a lot more stations. In the end my journey was over five hours long.

Managed to arrive at our offices in Fetter Lane in time for my afternoon meeting. Had a really good discussion on the area of work I am looking at on optimising operations and data.

The following day we had an away day with various items on the agenda.

I spent Thursday, in the main, travelling home, again taking about five hours from London to Weston.

I have been invited to attend or speak at various events about the university (smart) campus.