under another sun

Up and off again. Last day in my three day stint. Another day in a goldfish bowl meeting room. One of the advantages of being older is that people cannot be certain that you are a person of no importance. A couple of times people came to the room, clearly wanting to turf me out, and I just gave them a Paddington stare through the glass and they thought better of it. Worked on the train to get everything sorted in time, and despite various IT pains at work (they asked me to bring my own laptop, but their guest Wifi blocks you from sending emails sometimes), started the day running around with a memory key. Spent the afternoon with Fernanda, after our first thoughts had been scorned by some suit, who insisted on replacing them with idiocies, which due to his seniority within the organisation, apparently we had to run with. I reminded myself I was only there for a few more hours. Released back into the wild by Fernanda. She is a breath of fresh air, with an original mind and a beautif...

Trying to work on the train, but it was too full, and pesky faux first was full too. Bah. Into work and working alone for most of the day in a different office a bit like goldfish bowl, which at one point I was forced out of. Fernanda busy most of the day, so did most of the work and drawing up solo. A nice walk at lunchtime, and  chance to see some light. Walked along a bit of the nearby canal, and past gasometers that had been repurposed as swanky private properties. Not much to report in the afternoon other than steady concepting.  Slow journey home. Home, and oddly desperate for a beer. Lorraine had cooked me a chicken curry which I had with the Cylons and a couple of tinnies. Sweet. Below  taken with gasometer 'industrial luxury' apartments. Each of the columns had the stamp at the bottom of them, which I rather liked.

Up with Lorraine and off to London. To St Pancras, in faux first. Heading for a tasteful modern redevelopment around the back of Kings Cross. I was early, so found the canal and on the other side of it was St Martin's. Outside were dancing fountains, which suddenly sprung up as I looked at them, catching a man cycling past. I took a snap of them, their jets undulating in waves. I had a walk at lunchtime, and bought a sandwich and ate it sitting by a jukebox in a waiting area in St Pancras. Then into the office, where Fernanda grabbed me from reception. A clean and attractive office building, very swanky if soulless. Spent the day in a meeting room looking at a grey wall coming up with ways of selling a kind of medical packaging. Nanda had to go off and fix lots of problems for most of the day, so I was left mostly to my own devices. Nice to see her though, in those times when we were together. Then off home in the evening, and home to Lorraine and eating more of the turkey pi...

To Leeds today. Up early and we met Betty at the station, who thoughtfully stopped to buy us coffee, before heading off to teach. First leg to St Pancras, and we'd left very early  contend with delays in the after another stormy night. But we made it to Kings Cross with time to spare. Caught our train and we had a pleasant journey, Lorraine found our Japanese boiled sweets, and I read On Writing , by Stephen King. About 25 minutes from Leeds the train stopped dead, as the overhead power lines had failed, due to the rain. An hour there before we made our way back to Doncaster. By the time we had reached there the problem was sorted, and we boarded a train which took us on to Leeds. A two hour delay in total. However all good when we reached Leeds. Sam met us from the station and took us to the nearby Metropolitan hotel. It was really good to see him. A cup of tea in the room, before sloping off to a nearby pub. A few drinks there, before being joined by Jade. Eventually we made ...