Can I swap a vowel and consonant for two vowels please

A familiar request from that well known game show Countdown. After the little faux pas I'm about to relate, I certainly don't think I shall be putting my name forward to appear on the show.

In my previous post, entitled 'Tail chasing', I closed with mention of a visit to Tense Towers. One purpose besides of a social nature, was to deliver a concert ticket. The ticket was for my much blogged birthday bash, where I will aim to get from Craven Cottage in London, to the NEC in Birmingham, in 2.5 hours.

The smugness of my days incidental good bird list, continued by relating how clever I had been that not only had I got the concert tickets, but I'd also secured my seat at the earlier football match and brought a £15 rail ticket to get me from Euston to Birmingham International 15 minutes before the gig is due to start.

It was at this point, as I handed the ticket over to Graeme, he pointed out a major flaw in my plans. The concert is actually taking place at the NIA which is not, as I thought, a renaming of the NEC but in fact is a totally different venue in the Centre of Birmingham, near to Birmingham New Street Station. An extra stop away and ten minutes on the train.

The giggling over my error was so intense I couldn't but help to start coughing! With tears nearly streaming from laughing, we then looked up what I might see at the NEC. It turns out I could have visited the Memorabilia Show. It has lots of celebrity guests attending - I could even get to meet some of those actresses who in their day, when I was but a young pubescent male, I would have thought phwoar!!!

Fortunately, there was plenty of time to rescue the situation and the next day, following a quick phone call I was able to buy a ticket to take me the extra stop on the train. Phew a close shave indeed. Although I did rather like Graemes' suggestion that they shouldn't have told me and called me up on the train to check if I knew where I was going! This caused yet more giggles.