Out on the usual train, after a surprisingly poor night of sleep. Dozed quite a bit on the way. Circle to Kings Cross then a wander down the Fleet Valley to Exmouth Market and finally to the Family Records Centre. Soon got the hang of the records - partly by watching the clearly experienced and rather efficient family history buffs working quickly and steadily through lists of names and dates. Spent a fruitful couple of hours manhandling registers before ordering some certificates.
Coffee, and a wander through Clerkenwell before travelling to Clapham High Street via an overcomplicated but interesting series of short train journeys and a walk through Ruskin Park.
Long wander to some William Kent related sites in Lambeth, collecting photographs as I went. From Union Road and Larkhall Lane, via Wandsworth Road, Wheatsheaf Hall and Tradescant Road. Finally to Meadow Lane and The Oval and back to Waterloo.
Waterloo & City to Bank, then some happy but random City of London wanderings - taking pictures in steadily darkening conditions which have not produced great results. I might just attach one or two here.
A pleasant day - accomplished quite a bit, and revisited some railways I'd not seen for a long time.
 30 St. Mary Axe towers over St. Helen's Church |  ...and tiny St. Ethelburga's |
Started this morning with a strange urge to get IMAP set up on this machine. Fiddled before work, but didn't really get things moving at all.
Work was busy and disorganised. I think I got things done today to some extent - albeit in a rather haphazard way. This included some OFSTED related work, some IT system administration, some GIS stuff and the usual phone calls etc. When people are left to work together, we seem to get things done without much fuss or problem. It doesn't happen often however.
Back to IMAP on arriving home - learned a lot about SASL and authentication before getting it right. Now I think I have IMAP running more or less how I want it, including webmail for when I'm not at this particular keyboard. Will need to see how it works out.
Perhaps this article explains it all?
Hard to describe the sense of frustration I've experienced today. Not a good one at all. Can't quite pin down exactly why, because there were certainly good parts - even some quite amusing moments at work, which is rare enough to merit comment.
Lots of silly things seem to be taking on a magnitude inordiate to their importance. For example, my attempts to cook turned out to be misguided, which felt catastrophic today!
Looking forward to travelling to London on Saturday, and prior to that a rare chance to meet decent, normal people on Friday!
I've booked lots of time off in the coming months in an attempt to firstly use up my allocation, and secondly to get a decent break.
Lost::MikeGTN
I've had a home on the web for more years than I care to remember, and a few kind souls persuade me it's worth persisting with keeping it updated. This current incarnation of the site is centred around the blog posts which began back in 1999 as 'the daylog' and continued through my travels and tribulations during the following years.
I don't get out and about nearly as much these days, but I do try to record significant events and trips for posterity. You may also have arrived here by following the trail to my former music blog Songs Heard On Fast Trains. That content is preserved here too.
