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So I was bored, and so I went to a Cambridge meet.

Well, not strictly true. I was bored on friday, so me and Rosemary conspired to hold an Instameet on Wednesday, as in Yesterday.

So we did.

Our story starts on a bleak winters morning, early. It takes between two and three hours to get from TFTOPW to Cambridge, So, with the meeting arranged at a pub in Cambs at 1500, I began my journey at 1200.

I’ve done this “Train Timetable” thing before.

So verily and thusly did I exit my abode, filled with the joy of life and the excitement of the meet in the near future.

Then I went back home because I’d forgotten my phone.

I got to the Station at a dead run – Dead being an operative word here – and read a sign that mentioned “Signalling problems at (Somewhere), Severe delays” with mention that they were currently waiting for the 10:00 train. It was now 12:18. Next train was due at 12:30, so I wandered to and from the village, buying a paper to read on the train, then the station manager said that he’d managed to hire a bus to take us to the next station on the line, where we could get a train.

12:45 TFTOPW –> 13:10 Tonbridge.

Get on train going to London. Am told this train is now cancelled. Exchange witty banter with train driver, who knows as much about WTF is happening as I do.

13:45 Tonbridge –> 14:55 London Bridge.

15:00 London Bridge –> 15:20 London, Kings Cross. Platform 9 3/4

Yes, in honour of the Harry Potter movie, Kings Cross station is indeed plastered with “No Spellcasting!!” signs, and Platform 9b is clearly labled 9 3/4. And, for referance, the platform they use in the movie is in fact Platform 5, which goes to Peterbough, Grantham, York, Newcastle, Lots of other places, and normally terminates in Edinbough, a fair way away from where the Hogwarts Exterior was shot. But it passes though Durham, where the interiors were filmed. Aquarionics, Trivia for the masses since the January 1st, 2000.

At 15:45 my train left, ETA in Cambridge of 16:30, which I text messaged Rosie…

15:45 Kings Cross –> 16:45 Cambridge.

Long walk to pub, and then the meet began. There was Chocolate. There was Geekary. There was Pol, Rosie, Thomas, Tautch, Me, Cookie, Peter and Julie. By the powers of Virtual Meet Technology ™ there was a Lonecat (Hurrah for mobile phones). There was a Trivia Quiz, and there were drinks.

Typical Cambridge meet, really.

After the pub shut (About 23:30) we (Minus Thomas and Pol, who had to go to their respective homes) went to Cookie’s house so I could claim the shirt that I’d left there at a previous meet, and borrow a book. We drank (Very nice) whiskey, and geeked, then Peter and Julie wandered home, so we played Amiga games, and geeked.
We (Just Me and Rosie now) left there at about 2am to return to King’s College, where Rosie lives, where we found her friends and watched Meaning Of Life and played Cards, Cludo and Connect Four.

By 06:00, it was decided that bed was probably a good idea, so we wended our weary way upstairs…

…and spent another hour talking about Speculation, and what could happen in the Discworld next.

At about 7am, sleep overtook us, and we finally gave in…

Thursday

Okay, *more* of Thursday, technically. We awoke at about 12, IRC’d, geeked, talked, and vowed to write up our conversation last night for the Discworld Speculation list. We wandered out for lunch, got distracted by an incredibly shiny shop called “Games and puzzles”, which sells… well, games and Puzzles, and Posiedoll knows the owner, so we talked to them for a while… then lunch… *nice* fudge… irc… Writing of notes for Speculation… more speculation… more irc…

We went to a noodle-bar type thing for dinner(For those who have been introduced to Wagamama, it’s very much like that), which was very nice… more speculation… Back to Rosie’s flat… more speculation & putting rights to the world… and at 20:00 we left for the station, where there was a train just about to leave. Very quick hugs, See-you-soons, and home by 23:00 (Not much delay there, since the train left Cambs at 20:30. Nice jouney, in fact. Apart from the people geeking bicycles loudly while I was catching up on sleep 🙂

All in all, a wonderful and relaxing meet. Thanks for Rosie for putting up with me, and everyone who came along. I will move there, promise.

Oh, Yes. The question has been asked “Why didn’t you go to Bath to see Lonecat, if you were wandering around?” and the reason is twofold. Firstly, my wonderful girlfriend is currently doing Courseworky Deadliney things, which are Not Nice, and the last thing she needs right now is another distraction. Having said that, I’ve just read her diary, and I’m really not happy that I wasn’t around when she needed to talk to me 🙁

The second thing is less obvious. I belong in Cambridge.

Every time I go to Cambridge, I get this feeling of… well… belonging. I didn’t belong in Sunderland, and I don’t feel it here. Parts of London I can see myself living in, but the place I have the strongest… well, vibe for, is Cambridge. And every time I go there, I reaffirm and increase my desire to get my arse in gear and *move* there.

And this will happen

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