Need to let off steam? Julie Michaels has just had the day from hell...

If you've ever had the feeling that on certain days the entire world is out to get you then you'll find this very familiar. It's days like this that convince me there is a higher being watching over us. He/she/it just happens to have a particularly nasty sense of humour.

Picture if you will the start to any normal February morning, dark outside but the air is clear, the temperature crisp, and the duvet warm. Idyllic isn't it?

0700
The alarm goes off. The start to another exciting day in the office, tempered by the fact that it's Thursday and that little step closer to the weekend.

0730
I wake up again. Bugger.

0825
I'm still not entirely sure how I manage to be out of the door a mere 10 minutes late, but I'm sure the swearing helped - though I'm not sure the cats appreciated it as they bemusedly watched me try to get out of the front door while simultaneously putting my helmet on, donning my jacket and tying my laces.

0830
@#*%ing clipless pedals! I'm sure those kids that were walking along the pavement will still be laughing now...

0845
I'm beginning to ponder whether I should just turn back and get back under the duvet. I'm heading towards a road narrowing where traffic coming from my direction have right of way. It would appear that despite always being told that cyclists should not venture onto the pavement that we still do not qualify as traffic on the public highways. Some doddery old bloke in a rusty Nova heading the other way makes that abundantly clear.