Friday, September 7

Clapham Common, 18:00

I am now firmly settled into London time. I woke up early and ate four Weetabix at the hotel breakfast. Weetabix is a welcome innovation that has apparently been introduced since the last time I was hear.

I was one of the only two people at the conference when the day started officially at 9:00 with the Digital Hangout. Andy and I hung out digitally for an hour until more people arrived three minutes before the keynote was due to begin.

Usman Haque’s keynote was excellent. I learned things I didn’t know, and could immediately see how some of them could be incorporated in my Mobile Apps course. After a coffee break we had a lengthy plenary session in which we talked in small groups about anything we felt that had come out of the conference before asking ourselves what the future held and deciding that we didn’t know.

I had found my flotation tank vouchers in the envelope of “stuff for London” that I had brought with me, and yesterday I booked a session for late afternoon. Off I went, when the conference ended, walking to London Bridge. This was a mistake. It has been startlingly hot here since I arrived, and today was the hottest day yet. The underground was blocked with people wandering around trying to get to the Paralympics, which has somehow turned into a major event.

I found Floatworks easily enough and floated for two hours, after which I took the tube to Clapham Common and walked down to the Eurolodge. Here I am looking at a slow procession of joggers trotting round the perimeter of the common.

Today is a full-on eating day and I have realised that I am ravenous. I have decided not to eat out but instead to make myself a feast from the local supermarket delis. This will not prove to be very cheap but I will console myself with the fact that it was probably still half the price of a meal in a Clapham restaurant – and I got bigger portions.

I will have a Pizza Express pizza, two salads, some freshly squeezed juice, sparkling water, and two custard pies. I will buy a Private Eye to read while I am eating and it will prove to be a lot less amusing than I remembered. I will keep an eye on the iPad to see if Auo skypes. She won’t but I will get an email explaining that she couldn’t skype last night because she was at a dance performance with Irma.