On my way back from IWMW2005. Some observations:
- A week away from home with approximately twelve hours on board trains and planes is too much.
- Edinburgh is a stunning place. Manchester is not bad. I probably need to see more of Manchester to appreciate it.
- Our rail network is in trouble. I’m on a central trains service that has only two carriages, and has had passengers standing on and off all the way from Manchester. One carriage has broken air conditioning. This carriage has a broken toilet. It’s all quite grim.
- The CMS problem is still a major issue in academia. No one vendor or product seems to have gained any momentum.
- East Anglia really is very flat. I quite liked seeing hills in my trips up north.
- Conferences require a strong constitution and an even stronger liver. I think I broke mine.
- Two laptop batteries are not enough for a five hour journey, particularly when the batteries don’t hold charge like they used to.
- The lascivious biddies are perfect company on long journeys.
Looking forward to getting home.