A busy, busy week!

This has been such a busy week! And leaving all train bitching aside, because that’s getting very boring now, it’s been good.

I was at a construction marketing debate on Tuesday, which was very good, with lots of interesting people there. I arrived early and, no doubt because it was raining (which is my excuse for such an appalling picture), the pelicans in St James' Park were very happily stretching and noise-making.

I thought of Dad with the meeting being held in the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Inside it’s all wood-panelling and wide carpeted stairs with marble busts of people that probably mean something to mechanical engineers.

Thursday I had a meeting with a client at the Landmark Hotel (now doesn’t that sound a bit dodgy?!), which was so very posh that it doesn’t seem to have a pedestrian entrance. Well, I did find one, but it’s not always open, and it was firmly locked when I arrived. Instead it has a fenced-off drive-through so that guests can have their chauffeurs drop them off instead. Plebs like me have to mix it up with the limos, walking up the drive-through.

The hotel is right next to Marylebone station, so very convenient for those of us without chauffeurs. The reception is classic marble, but the rather nice part is the atrium. It looks like it was a courtyard with the hotel on all four sides, but they’ve covered it with glass and it has eateries, cafes and a surprising number of palm trees.

We had a social networking seminar at work with Curious Catherine, which was not only educational, but also highly entertaining as Catherine is very sharp on wit, especially her take on various aspects of the online community.

Did you know that there is a new series of Hawaii Five-O? I found that out earlier in the week and having sampled it, I can confirm that it’s not very good, so please don’t anybody think I might like the box-set. Not that I think anyone would, I’m just saying.

Speaking of, I have found that he trouble with digitising my entire DVD collection is boredom. One has to sit for hours on end waiting for things to happen – mostly discs to eject, and programs to finish – especially when using multiple machines. I did try watching DVDs, but every time I had to do something, by the time I got back to whatever I was watching it had moved on, and when I tried the pausing method, I paused so often I forgot what the plot was.

So, recalling that I have credit for games – especially after the seventh Harry Potter game turned out to be so naff I returned it (if you like shoot-em-up games it might be good, but I don't), I decided to pick up a couple of games. I stumbled across Pirates! for the PSP, which is keeping me so entertained on the train that I’m not noticing brakes failing and some drivers inability to turn up nearly so much.

I think I may also be entertaining the carriage as well, as I tend to get quite carried away with it, and have been known to verbally encourage ships I’m being piratical to, to stop running away and such things.

But back to keeping myself entertained while digitising things – I acquired Endless Ocean for the Wii, which is just the most divine game ever. I’m sure gamers hate it, as it doesn’t progress very fast. It involved being a scuba diver in a fictitious ocean, and you get to talk to all sorts of fish and things, and take other divers on guided tours, and explore caves, deep trenches and wrecks. It was clearly designed by a diver and a marine biologist, and the graphics are superb.

On the down side, RSI is a distinct possibility.

I was going to take a break from DVDs and games as fire training at Brands Hatch was supposed to be this weekend, but it has been postponed until March, so perhaps not.

I guess when you want to deliberately set fire to a reasonable enough sized vehicle that lots of very nervous trainees can play with their fire extinguishers, getting all the correct permissions and people present is a bit of a logistical nightmare.

I am looking forward to it, even though that’s not the side of marshalling I’m interested in (which would be waving pretty coloured flags a lot), apart from the alleged laxative effect of accidentally inhaling the contents of the powder fire extinguishers. Not that you’re supposed to inhale these things, but you know, wind direction is important, folks!