Microsoft gets the prize for inviting me to the first Christmas party of 2001 - in two weeks time at the Playing Fields. I really don’t know why PR people still go there. It’s one of those events you should really be at, though - they’re launching all of their kit for Christmas and the new year, and it’s kind of nice to Christmas-y up the tail end of summer anyway.

Spent half an hour looking at my calendar and wondering whether or not it was a good idea to book time of work for a holiday through the last week in September and first week of October being as how I’d be away for my birthday. In the end I decided it probably was. Last year I spent the day sitting on a cold bench in the drizzle at Danbury lakes, and being away has got to be better than that.

Rather fancied the idea of chugging around Europe on a train and found a fantastic site that will work out your route across borders and around the continent on public transport. Even tells you the train numbers and the how long it’ll take to make connections, which left me greatly impressed. Not at all sure how much it would all cost, though.

The trip I’m doing to Berlin at the end of the month is proving far more hassle, though. It’s the first time I’ve dealt with a PR company that expects you to arrange your own tickets, and it’s rapidly becoming far more bother than it’s worth. The plus point, of course, is that I get to see Berlin, and I’ve never been before, but the amount of time I’ve spent faxing and phoning to get things sorted - and the fact it steals a day from the bank holiday weekend - rather outweighs everything else.

Finished proofing the first draft of the book. I had written some very strange things. Perhaps that through-the-night writing session wasn’t such a good idea after all. I’m still feeling the effects now. It was very difficult to get up for the gym this morning, and in the end I only swam anyway. I still have to do the screen shots, which will take a while, and to OK the contract, but the revised text they sent back after my email of objections looks far more reasonable.

1. Christmas dinners
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2. Christmas 2007
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3. Christmas TV
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