This Week: “Tickets Please” & “Musical Musings”

Of course, in his case, he was talking about finishing a particularly fiendish jigsaw puzzle of Burnham Wood's Whereas in mine, I refer to the organising of my trip to London in mid-October.

First thing this morning, I asked my team leader to approve my request to have a couple of days off, explaining that she had 24 minutes in which to do so.

This resulted in a look of either confusion or bewilderment, which, come to think of it, is her usual expression when talking to me for reasons that remain unclear.

I therefore explained that the Royal Opera House only reserves tickets for a set amount of time, and I needed to know that I would be able to get to Don Giovanni before clicking on the Buy Now button.

Fortunately, she did so.

I'd like to think this was because she was keen for me to have a lovely time in London, but I suspect it was more about getting the conversation to finish as soon as possible.

Once my ticket was purchased, I immediately turned my attention to the hotel website and, pausing only to find a 5% discount code online, booked my room.

There were a couple of fairly clear messages warning me that my room only had a single bed.

However, this was of little or no concern to me, as I sleep in one anyway.

The piano takes up the space that the unused half of a double bed would need.

My final task was to book the ticket for the matinee performance of the obscure musical I want to see the next day.

I got to the website, the Elvick, and the show, martangare.com. and was about to choose my ticket when, inconveniently, the morning briefing began.

Fortunately, it didn't take long, so I was able to get back to my desk and, after setting up an account, buy the ticket.

There then followed a few hours of work, which, after all, is necessary to pay for all this frivolity, so it wasn't until my afternoon coffee break when I was able to conclude my business by booking a train ticket.

My initial plan was to buy an off-peak anytime return, but the times I wanted to return were like Hilary and Norgay on the 29th of May 1953, on peak.

Therefore, I went for two single tickets at fixed times that were a bit cheaper.

I also decided to book an early check-in and choose a specific room on the top floor of the hotel in the hope I would not be disturbed.

Excitingly, I could choose an en-suite shower or an en-suite bath, and I cannot remember what I went for, which will give me a lovely surprise when I check in.

I got home and announced to mum that I had successfully booked everything I wanted, fast forward an hour or so, and I decided to move all the tickets from my email inbox to the Google Wallet app on my phone, for reasons unknown.

This was easy enough with the train tickets and the opera ones, but the old vicar had sent me a PDF ticket which would not transfer.

The ticket appeared to be 80% advertising, with the required QR code hidden to one side, so I zoomed in, thinking I could take a screenshot.

It was at this precise moment that I noticed the date and time of the show.

Thursday, 15th of October at 7.30pm. Or, if you prefer another measure, exactly 45 minutes after the start of Don Giovanni.

I had somehow managed to book the wrong ticket, for which I blamed the morning spotlight for distracting me at a vital moment.

In a slight state of panic, I went on the Old Vic website to try and find out what I could do.