War Room

Hmmm ! The Journal entries are a little light this week. Before I set off for Boston everyone was telling me how lucky I was and the words "jammy" and "git" were thrown around.

Well the reason that the Journal is on the Thin side is that, so far, my days have been spent in a windowless, airless sauna of a war room planning a strategy for a series of meetings that take place today. The working day starts around eight in the morning and generally runs through to a similar time in the evening.

After 12 hours of that all I really want to do is get back to the hotel, climb out of the suit and sink in to a chair in the bar and have a late supper and a G&T.

OK, I know its just talking and being hotel based means that I don't have to stack the dishwasher or drive the car or any other domestic duties but as a lifestyle choice it is somewhat constrained. Hotel, cab, office, mall for lunch, office, cab, hotel has a certain symmetry to it but I much prefer the variation of home life.

Everyone tells me that Boston is a lovely city and one day I hope to have enough time here to enjoy it. I had a brief experience of its splendor yesterday evening as I was driven back to my hotel

The route from the office back to the hotel takes me along the bank of the Charles River and on the opposite bank I got to see the Boston Skyline at night. I'm not a fan of cities preferring the natural landscapes but this was truly amazing. Along the banks of the River the buildings are maybe 20 storeys high and behind them is the most splendid range of skyscrapers. All of these were lit up and I mean LIT UP-  not just an occasional light here or there - they were burning power like it was going out of fashion.

It certainly wasn't a "green" view in any sense of the word but it was truly impressive and makes me wish I could have stopped the cab to get a photo.

Today is meetings and tomorrow is a debrief then the flight home. I've not seen anything* that I can sacrifice to the airline Gods as a plea for an upgrade or, at the very least, a spare seat next to mine.

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* That is quite a peculiar experience for someone who lives surrounded by animals to spend a week devoid of their contact.