I was tasked with collecting Annette and her friend Baljinder from Birmingham airport on their return from Marrakesh/Morocco in the early hours of Thursday morning. Now this is a journey I positively loath as it means junction 10 M6 and M42 and usually heavy traffic and delays. However, as it was to be after midnight before I set off I was quietly confident about this one even though there were horrendous roadworks all round the exit off the motorway to the airport. I had done the return journey the previous week and ended up following the signs to Brownhills as the only place I knew apart from Warwick and Coventry that were miles away from where home was.
Anyway, I had picked up the satnav expecting to be able to enter BHX or airport if I got lost and was motoring along quite nicely when I realised just before junction 10 I had left my phone on the table. Not to worry it was a straight forward journey. Considering the early hour there was still considerable heavy lorry traffic on the roads and as usual they had the habit of pulling out left right and centre as the whim took them but, at least I had enough room to manoeuvre out of their way.
All went well until I got to the diversion. To my horror they had changed the route yet again since last week and I had to follow the diversion signs. They might as well had a bloke in a pink shirt directing me with sign language for all the good they were. 
I thought I was going te right way because that was the direction the big diversion sign was pointing but, as I got to a part were the roadworks divided the route; right being for diverted traffic (big sign) and left with a small unnoticed arrow saying airport. 
Things went downhill fast. All the diversion signs disappeared and I found myself stuck on a dual carriage way with no turn off heading towards Coventry.
Not a major problem, thinks I, there has to be a turn-off some place and I can double back and have another go at the labyrinth like diversion routes. Nearly twenty minutes later I managed to get pointing back towards the airport. I recognised the route we had taken last week but, my exit was closed again and I ended up heading towards Tamworth!! Time was dragging on now and I was cursing every stupid maintenance manager and scrap metal thief in the land as it was clear I was not getting a full set of directions round the final junction although I did manage to find my way to the NEC which only lead me off on another wild goose chase.
Eventually, coming from God knows what direction, I got past the horrendous mess and onto the airport parking. My 40 minute journey had taken me at least an hour and a half and of course Annette was not pleased I had kept her waiting. By the way I had tried to get the satnav to give me directions and it just said there were major roadworks and it hadn’t been updated. It nearly went out of the window. My only consolation was that Annette decided to drive back and despite my warning and having the satnav finding a route home we still got lost round the carved up island on the way out.
It’s enough to put you off driving.