Tuesday 27th September 2016

I had not had enough sleep, but the course was due to begin at eight, so I had to be up at half six. I say half six, for my body clock it was half five, and so outside it was still dark.

There was the usual rushing around, having a shower, getting dressed and going down for breakfast before driving through the rush hour traffic to the office. Not an unpleasant experience, what with the sun just rising, trees all dressed in golden leaves swaying in the morning breeze. But then there is the traffic, which is a nightmare, and they drive on the wrong side of the road here!

I make it to the office, have a coffee then make my way to the meeting room where I and twenty other colleagues have eight and a half hours of safety awareness training. And it was every bit as bad as that sounds.

As the day dragged on, we went without breaks in order to get the pain over with as soon as possible. And that pain ended at just gone four, with my brain having melted some hours before. I know safety is important, very important, but eight hours.

I took my sorry ass back to the hotel at five, when the traffic had calmed down to reasonable levels, taking the same route back and managing to avoid all the mad cyclists who are racing cars and each other around. At least they have their own signals at junctions for the most part, and most main roads have cycle lanes, and it all works pretty well. Heck, if I lived here, I'd cycle too. I like cyclists, some of my best friends are cyclists, so its not that I dislike them, just that at some junctions when you turn right, you have to give way to them and pedestrians, so different from home, it can be easy to make a mistake. I've not hit one yet mind, and maybe Britain should be the same?

I go down to the bar to meet with me old mate Shaggy who wanted me to bring him some mulling spice over. I did but what with the difference in wording, I mean his recipe called for 5 spice, which back at home is something you add to stir frys, so I bring some seasonal allspice, and one of the other might work.

We go to the Highlander for a beer and fish and chips, which was pretty good I have to say, and after a while we were joined by my boss, one of my bosses, Jesper, who came down to have a beer and a chat. What with Shaggy a brewer, and Jesper and i beer drinkers, we had plenty to talk about.

We call it a night at half ten, and so I bid them goodbye, and walk back along deserted streets back to the hotel. Where does the time go? Above me, a sliver of silvery mood rose, joined with the rainbow over the museum of modern art, making a fine sight.