Once again, my journey begins the day before. Unlike normal where I have a rucksack that seems to contain a kitchen sink, I've gone with a much more sober looking luggage (dread the thought - almost serious looking)
Be shocked – it’s a suitcase! 
-My travel trash at work
However At 4:50pm, after kicking a user off the network (a pleasure that Systems Administrators take pride in), I decided I had enough of my work and caught the shuttle bus from work and then onto a train at peak time to High Wycombe – my staging post for the night.
Of course, much Chinese food, red wine, merriment and trying to work out what was being discussed on
ensued, before both of us crashing for the night.
All too soon 04:00 rolled round again and by 04:30 it was time to wander to Heathrow.
Heathrow
T1 at 5am in the morning. Fast becoming too much of a regular sight...
After making sure the friend I was travelling had made it to the airport (as we were travelling together), the usual Heathrow organisation (or lack of thereafter) ensued, and by 5:45 we were through security. Then it was a matter of hurdling through WHSmith and making sure we stocked up on ciggies for my friend, it was straight into the Star Alliance lounge for breakfast.
Star Alliance Lounge, Heathrow
Plenty has been written about this good lounge, so of course - I'll write more
.
After being welcomed, being allowed to guest my friend and reminded that no boarding calls were made, I made my way in.
Food was it’s usual wonderful self, and a pair of sofas made for a nice comfortable home before heading off.
Breakfast time!
On asking, a WiFi code was given, and the performance of the link was reasonable (not fast, but not exactly a slug - certainly better than my performance than USB 3G Modem).
I noticed that although paper supplies were plentiful, the magazines supplies had dropped considerably (in particular, no Top Gear Magazine - little things like this are noted!) - a sign of the times and cuts (unless some so-and-so nabbed it before me!)
Eventually at 07:00, I could see the flight was being boarded, so we bided goodbye to the lounge
Expecting a hike to the high 50’s, it was a pleasant surprise to be boarding at gate 36 – which for once was not at the back of beyond. Zone 1 had just boarded, so we slipped into the queue and made our way aboard.