Ups and Downs

On the up side this week I was on a training course learning about the programming language for Microsoft SQL Server; we have 4 servers running this at work and people have occasionally asked me to do things on them which I have done but it has always taken me longer than I would have expected.

The course was terrific, I learnt loads and now feel pretty confident that I will be able to satisfy any requests that my madcap friends at work land on my desk.

On the down side the course was held in a building just outside Euston station which mean that I had to use the tube each day to get there and back from Waterloo; it only takes 10 mins but the tube is my least favourite form of transport. Although the course started at 09:00 each day (apart from the first where registration started at 08:00) I continued to get there for 08:00 – which meant I avoided the crush of rush hour.

The finish time of 16:30 was a factor in my not being able to use the usual trains to return home, and even coming back to a different station and catching a cab I ended up returning home 30 mins or more later than usual.

My fellow tube sufferers were a pretty standard cross section of working stiffs in London apart from one dude on Wednesday; he was wearing a suit and tie, carrying an electric blue briefcase and had a bowler had painted to match. The real killer detail was that he had a “face pack” of matching colour on his face and hands; I have no idea what was going on but was impressed by the sang-froid of my fellow travellers who acted as though nothing unusual was going on!