Travelling to Taunton

It occurs to me that Taunton is bloody difficult to get to from here by public transport. Buses won't get there on time, the motorway is too fast and dangerous for my little bike, trains mean I have to leave the house at 7 to get there by 10 - but the best one; getting there by taxi, all of 27 miles, would cost £46. Each way.

So, as you can probably predict, I wound up getting the train. Apparently the later train allows a change at Castle Cary, lopping nearly 45 minutes off the journey, but not at any times I could use.

This is all because I've been chosen for Jury Duty. For those that have been fortunate enough not to discover what this means, you're randomly selected from the Electoral Register. (My name's still misspelt on it, after three years of complaints, emails, calls and letters.)

It's a governmental calling, so you can't get out of it unless you a) know any of the involved in the case you're assigned, b) have a sufficient medical reasonm or c) will be on an already paid for holiday.

This is a bad thing - for example, one of the girls forgot to move her Registry when she moved to Portsmouth. So she's having to stay at a friends house here so she doesn't get fined. Oh yeah - that's right, not only is it mandatory, but if you fail to turn up, they can and will stick you with a £1000 fine. Some cases can go on 200+ days too, but most normally consist of a bunch of short cases for a two week period.

My first day wasn't very entertaining. Nothing happened, and we sat around in the waiting room. They did let us out a little early though, so I took the opportunity to explore Taunton's magnificent Lush store. Yomnom bath bomb! Vanilla-y. The moisturiser I grabbed leaves you smelling like New York cheesecake, and the Toffee Apple bomb smells heavenly.

Proper lush!