The Lair

Hop on a flight at 1940 last night; several thousand miles away. Wake up this morning in the UK. A couple of hours on the train and a quickish taxi ride later, I was home. Well, my home in the UK, that is… A brief look at the house, the fridge was empty. Normal people would take it on themselves to go shopping or something like that. I decided to turn up at the department instead. Perhaps a mistake, perhaps a good thing - I was collared by my supervisor as I walked to my cube. A stack of things that should have been done (but weren’t) landed on my desk and a couple of hours later - I’m wading through a pile of (virtual) paper trying to sort out a couple of reports.

Yep. I’m back. I came back to the department at 1030 or so, UK time. It is true, I need my head examined.

I suppose I can explain this by the fact that I crave the high speed internet access. A 2mbps ADSL connection in SL was all very well, but not exactly the monster pipe available here. That’s one. I can also explain it partly by the LCD… peering at a notebook LCD just isn’t the same as my trusty setup here and it does make a difference. Having a nearly empty plane for the leg from the Middle East to the UK helped too, I guess. I stretched ye old footses across the emergency exit, stole enough pillows to start WW3 (if WW3 were fought with tiny white pillows, that is) and enough blankets to do a full sized wardrobe for an elephant (any garment you want, so long as it’s maroon in colour and woolly). Armed with these supplies, I proceeded to sack out and sleep the sleep of the dead. Do I snore when I sleep? It wouldn’t have mattered. There were enough blankets to muffle the sound of the engines. So, I waltzed into my cube expecting to goof off with the high speed internet for a few hours and then go home. Bah. The best laid plans…

The weather (the taxi guy complains) is not being very clever. Cold, most unsummer like. Well, it is the UK and all. Summer only lasts a weekend in these parts. On the positives, I have the TV to myself (woohoo, no more polite sharing around of remote controls!). The only problem would be that I have a rather important report and presentation to get ready by Friday (or the purse string holders might get a bit unhappy) and an even more important presentation for Thursday (or I get kicked out of this place). How do I get myself into these things? I just want to watch Wimbledon and the WorldCup in peace… why now? why me? Aargh.