there and back again

Suddenly life's got all hectic. On Monday I went to Edinburgh, Tuesday I went from Edinburgh to Glasgow, then home again via Edinburgh. So I'm a bit knackered this morning.

I'd been to Scotland before, but never to either of its big cities. I was looking forward to seeing Edinburgh and it lived up to expectations. In parts, it looks like a grubby version of Bath or Cheltenham, but the city centre is fantastic. You have to go up hill to get anywhere, and all around are old stone buildings, and in the distance sea and hills.

I liked Glasgow more than I expected. It feels very European; the wide streets and squareness of the buildings reminded me of Geneva for some reason. I wandered around and tried (and failed) not to look like a tourist. There will be photos, once I get them developed.

I was working, really, but the sunshine and gorgeousness made it feel like a bit of a break. Plus I had Belle and Sebastian permanently stuck in my head, which is no bad thing.

I also had some time to think about work and I'm feeling a lot more positive than in my last post. I've met more of the other people involved in the project which helps a lot, I can put faces to names. Learning who's who, and what they do is helping me to understand how this whole project works. I've also realised it's up to me to decide what my job's about, rather than waiting for other people to tell me what to do. I think it's partly culture shock. This is a project run by academics which means it works differently to projects in other sectors. That does mean the prevailing culture is blokey and probably more gets decided on in the pub than in meetings, which isn't exactly my cup of tea, but it does mean there's a certain amount of autonomy in deciding what to do and how to do it. Provided you deliver what you're supposed to.

Talking of which, I'd better get on.