Archive: February 13th, 2006

It’s been a hectic few days ‘round these parts.

First off, there was the Carson Workshops Summit on Wednesday. It was great; really great. The whole event was very slickly and professionally organised. It was truly a bargain to get so many world class speakers on one bill for a very, very reasonable price. I doff my hat to Ryan and Gillian: a fine job, Carsons.

As you may have noticed, I liveblogged the whole thing. I’ve since gone back in and fixed the typos and inserted the missing words so my stenographical outpourings should make a bit more sense now.

I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of useful, practical information I picked up — I guess I was expecting (or perhaps dreading) more “blue sky” chatter. My only disappointment was that no-one managed to get a full house in buzzword bingo, although Ben came pretty close.

As is the norm for geek gatherings, the official event was just the beginning of the fun. After the speakers had spoken, the blogerati retired to a nearby pub where, crammed to the rafters, the nerdy japes continued apace.

I really should have just taken it easy the next day but, being in London, I wanted to make the most of my time. I couldn’t imagine a finer way to spend a day in London than being a tour guide for Shaun, Leslie and James (Jen didn’t need a tour guide — she knows a lot about the history of London). Andy, Richard, Jessica and I took them on a whirlwind tour of London by bus, boat, tube and on foot.

My only concern after two days of such excellent company and conversation was how my voice was going to hold up on my big day of Ajax training. On the day itself, I consumed plenty of hot water with lemon and honey.

I thoroughly enjoyed giving the workshop. The people who attended couldn’t have been better. They asked excellent questions and provided me with great feedback. If they enjoyed attending the workshop just half as much as I enjoyed giving it… then I enjoyed it twice as much as them.

After a quick beer with the attendees in the hotel bar, I hopped on a train back down to Brighton to begin a weekend of frolics with out-of-towners. My friend from childhood, Gerard, came to visit from Ireland. Shaun and Leslie also came down to Brighton to experience for themselves the J&J treatment they had heard about.

What followed was a weekend of seaside entertainment featuring tea, jellied eels, Sunday roast and far too much time spent in smoky pubs. The combination of non-stop talking, liberal amounts of beer, and damp, drizzly weather has weakened my immune system somewhat. That cold I thought I had kicked seems to have returned with a vengeance. It’s time for me to give myself some R’n’R (that’s rest and recuperation, not Ruby on Rails).