under another sun

Countdown to Japan Late to work, Bob called me on the train to cancel our night out tonight. Late to work again, stuck on a crawling tube train I felt utterly solitary, despite being in the centre of the city. Slogged all morning, then snuck off for a late lunchtime swim. Afterwards more chugging through copy, and racing the clock. Felt increasingly tetchy as the day progressed. And after hours grew positively irritable waiting for a few chumps to indulge in some windbaggery about Friday's pitch before I could escape. On the upside, thinking lots about Japan now. What a truly amazing life I lead, being able to fly off to Japan -- and, what's more, I will know people there when I arrive. Romy has also cleverly arranged for me to be met at the airport by a woman called Hitomi who will guide me to the bullet train. Hitomi has also asked if we can have a lunch together. This seems like a unimpeachably sound idea to me. Not everyone can claim to have a lunch date within a couple of...

Windows and windbaggery Spoke to Anton on the train this morning, he was phoning from Spain to see if I was okay which was nice. Had a new meeting with a client today. He spent over an hour and a half telling me and Hannah about all his achievements, and then stultifying us with screen after screen of flowcharts which had nothing to do with our discussion. Sometimes working for an agency is painful. Having to hang on this windbag's every assertion as if it was an insight of penetrating brilliance. We were sitting by lots of windows and over his shoulder was stormy lightning so at least I could gaze in his general direction with some sort of interest. And how naive I was to imagine that you could simply install new windows if you want them. Turns out that because of the bijoux beauty of the Twitten it is (quite rightly) a conservation zone. This means you have to apply to Brighton council in case your choice of window offends the aesthetics of the area -- a process that can take mon...