Postcard from London

Woo - surprise post!

Arrived here in London very late last night. Due to yet more work being carried out on the West Coast line Paul (Mercer) and I were diverted via Birmingham, which certainly surprised us when we spotted planes and a runway out of the window. "They weren't here last time," I said. Paul agreed. Three and a half hours after setting off, we arrived.

Our hotel (the St Giles) is pretty grotty. Our rooms are on opposite sides of the corridor so we can just give each other a knock in the morning and then walk into work. Very pleasant stroll this morning, past places that made you point and go "I've seen that on the telly!" and annoy the London types who hurried past. Oh, and we couldn't resist the opportunity to stop off at a branch of Starbucks and top up on coffee on the way in.

The course started about half an hour late as, instead of there being twelve students as originally thought, there were four (a fifth person later turned up at about lunchtime.) Also, Ian Simpson, the training team leader down here, sat in on most of the session which was nerve-wracking but he said he enjoyed it and liked my style (phew!) The rest of the group seemed to enjoy it too, and we're bang on the schedule I was hoping to keep - hurrah!

No idea what we're doing tonight, but it will probably involve eating food and talking about badgers, and will undoubtedly baffle those who sit in earshot, which is just how it should be.

More soon,
P.