Unexpected Travel Plans
You know the one where you think you're going to be presenting a demonstration of something clever over the internet to a room full of business people later in the week, and then you get back from holiday and read the email properly, and realise you actually need to be in a conference room 300 miles from home on the morning of the meeting? Yeah. That.
I have spent the majority of the morning thus far booking a hotel room and train tickets. In a bizarre situation that only the UK rail network could imagine, it's cheaper for me to travel the night before the meeting and stay in a hotel than to travel early in the morning on the day of the meeting. Figure that one out. I suppose at least I'll get to catch up on some reading while sitting on trains for five hours each way.
I'll be staying in a hotel (and a city) I haven't visited for some time. The hotel has a bar I will not see, because I'll arrive late at night – perhaps a blessing of sorts, given the kinds of people I typically cross paths with in hotel bars. The hotel also serves quite possibly the worst breakfast known to man – but I can't really complain, because it's free. The scrambled eggs could probably be used to repair shock absorbers on double-decker buses.
In the meantime I have to build a demonstration system to stand in front of a room full of strangers and talk about. It's a bit like building a show-house, where if you sit on any of the furniture, it will crumple because it's all made out of papermach and cardboard (or “hopes and dreams”, if we're going for a more romantic bent).
Anyway. Better get on with it I suppose – but perhaps not until I've chosen a book to read on my travels.