The trip back yesterday was a bit of a pain. It took five and a half hours which is a little longer than usual. This had a knock on effect making me late for Ste's. The party was quieter than previous years but was nice to catch up with people …

I hope everyone has had a great Christmas. Today started a little slow following a last minute call from Ed last night that drew me to the pub for a jar or two. It took me a while to wake up but after my Mum's lovely dinner I'm restored although …

John popped round today for a catch up. He's one of my oldest friends who was involved in the original ST Squad when we were teenagers. Plenty of high geek discussion ensued only slightly interspersed with real life stuff. I shall have to make more of an effort to visit …

The drive down was a bit of a pain. The denial a.m. departure was good in so far as the M6 proved to be a breeze. The predicted fog of doom seemed mostly absent. However some idiot managed to prang themselves on the A14 so I spent an hour …

So Champagne was on offer at four in the afternoon which even while coding Perl was a sufficient inducement to finish early. I was unable to resist the Christmas cheer and joined my fellow work college for a few jars (in half pint measures, I'm driving tomorrow) before heading home …