It’s always nice to spot the differences and similarities between countries. Except, perhaps, when it’s something as annoying as crap drivers. The kind of person who shouldn’t be let loose in a 750cc bubble car let alone a house for three on wheels. The mountain tracks around here are heaving with these idiots at the moment. Several countries have school holidays and the weather’s beautiful so they’ve all dusted off their motorised bungalows and gone looking for roads to blockade.

My shift today was supposed to be a "split" (8am – midday / 4pm – 8pm). This had the major advantage of meaning I couldn’t make it to Bar d’Up to watch us get hammered by ManUre. Instead, I ended up driving to Albertville and then on to Moutier to collect Sonia, who was to manage the Sap for a week or so. Until she arrived, the hotel would be managerless. And assistant managerless. James, the AM, had come down with a very serious condition about a week previously. One hospital trip at 3am where he needed oxygen resulted, and he’s still laid up in bed with a huge collection of pills.

Pete, the manager, was coping pretty well by himself until yesterday. He had a teeny accident snowboarding and broke his collarbone for the second time in two seasons. Hence my trip to neutral territory to collect Sonia at 11:00. A trip that should have had me back in the office by 1pm. Not taking into account the traffic.

I was actually in Moutier by midday. Sonia eventually arrived at 1pm. Their drive had been even more tortuous than mine (including going past a bus that had toppled over, its wheels still spinning), but they’d managed it without screaming at a campervan driver. Or cutting one up on the only available corner in 15 miles after he’d not bothered to pull over and let traffic past several times. My only regret is that I didn’t have the time to get out and slash his tyres as well. Or ram him down into a ravine.

Anyway, the upshot is that it’s just gone 5pm and I theoretically finished an hour ago as my shift changed due to the driving. I now have no excuse not to go to the pub. Except for the two hard drive images I need to do, the partition resizing afterwards, the backup configuration and testing, the final few email configs to roll out in the office…

Maybe I’ll get away with this yet.