I am having a largely sofa-oriented day today. Yesterday was a long one, although it turned out okay in the end. On Thursday, having met them for dinner, I arranged to meet my cousin Christina and Tom and a couple of their friends in Greenwich. It was a straightforward enough plan: we were going to meet at Greenwich station at quarter to three. I got there with time to spare. Then I waited. And waited.

And waited. I must have been there two hours, all the while trying to get a message to chris or Tom to establish where they were; I even emailed mum asking her to phone chris. She did not have her number. About an hour later, on the verge of giving up and heading home, I finally realised I had the number all along – thank smeg for iPads and their access to emails. Kicking myself, I headed back to the station and asked one of the members of staff there to phone chris. Ten minutes later, Tom appeared, apologising profusely in that Michael palin-esque way he has.

I was feeling slightly grouchy by then, but a couple of beers and a bite to eat sorted that. Now I know what you are going to say: I should have had a PA with me who could have phoned them. However, had I had someone in tow, I would have felt obliged to give up and head home long before I saw Tom enter the station. I find being alone sometimes gives me a certain flexibility. On the other hand, yesterday afternoon perhaps I should have taken John or mitch, given we went to a restaurant after we met.

My errors aside, it turned out to be a great evening. I chatted to Tom about work, and we generally enjoyed each others company. In the end we walked back to charlton and had a beer in the Antigalligan pub. There we said goodbye, and I got home at about nine, knackered but pleased everything turned out right in the end.

As I tucked into a cornish pasty, I quietly congratulated myself for not giving up and for handling the situation – such events make me feel more independent.

That aside, time to put my feet up and chill out: independence can be stressful.