I had an interview this morning, followed by lunch with friends at this little West End pub - "The Windmill".

I am working in the Lloyds building until the end of the week for a client (a syndicate) which is certainly on of the best known (if quirky) buildings in the City of London as it is 'inside-out'.

Woke this morning to discover that it was snowing again... Unfortunately, the gritters had not been out overnight so the roads were very slippery. It doesn't snow that often in the south of England, largely thanks to the Gulf Stream, and it is even more rare to be snowing in central London as it was this morning. I am hoping that it will have melted by this afternoon so that my journey home is smooth. Time to hurry off to Starbucks to get a nice, warm Americano.

This is where I work in London, just next to Monument in the City of London. I have a six month contract with a company called Sequel Business Solutions who write software for the Lloyds of London insurance market.

I'm really more of a summer person; winter does not wear well on me at all. Catching my train at 06:20 from Wokingham, the sky is still dark and the air is cold. Thankfully the mornings are growing lighter now but I am looking forward to May when dawn will have passed by this time.

I have just finished reading this fascinating autobiography. I would recommend it highly (and I'm not normally a big fan of autobiographical works). As you would expect, Greg gives a robust defence of the way that the BBC dealt with The Hutton Inquiry and the "45 minute" story from Andrew Gilligan.

"Inside Story" by Greg Dyke

Anyone who lives or works in London knows that your life is ruled by the vagaries of public transport. Today, I have been lucky. I left the office at 17:30 on the nose and got to the tube station in time to catch the first of my trains.
My journey home comprises the following parts:
1. Walk to Monument tube station.
2. Catch the tube west on the Circle|District line to Embankment.
3. Catch the tube south on the Bakerloo line to Waterloo.
4. Catch the train from Waterloo to Wokingham.
5. Drive from Wokingham to home.
Not a simple journey, by any means... On a good day (like today) the connections all line up and I will arrive home around 19:30 - so the journey takes about two hours. On a more usual day, I miss my best train out from Waterloo and the journey will take about two and a half hours. On a bad day...
All this, by the way, is for a journey of 33 miles as the crow flies!
Of course, it is my choice to work in London - although I would prefer not to - and it is my choice not to live in London either, so I should not complain overly much. Still, it does seem that I spend an inordinate amount of my time sitting on public seats.

Having lunch at Café Nero with Paul, another contractor where I work in London.

I have two cats: Mork and Mindy. They are brother and sister from the same litter. Here is Mindy doing what all cats do best... Sleeping!

This isn't my first blog (I have a technical blog on dotnetjunkies) but I thought it was about time to have a personal blog.

I am also involved with Blogshares (an online game based on the blogosphere) where I am part of the Math Team.