October
I was scribbling a to-do list in my diary for tomorrow when I shifted my gaze up an inch or so to the big fat '1' at the top of the page. No way. It can't be three quarters of the way through this year already.
I keep telling everyone the same thing, but it's true – it still feels like I got home (from my last expedition) yesterday. My grand plans for a huge summer holiday (a fortnight on a beach somewhere, a few paperbacks, no mobile phone) never materialised and in many ways life feels every bit as stressful as it was during the buildup to my departure in February. Tony and I spent all day at a desk yesterday, frantically preparing a talk I was due to deliver at a conference that evening; we got back here way past midnight, Tony crashed on the sofa and I was up early(ish) again today to drive to a speaking engagement with Nationwide in Northampton. Busy boy.
As well as the next expedition (October 2005 to February 2006) and piles of speaking work, there's a rather exciting business venture that should kick off next spring. Part of me can't wait, but part of me can't help thinking there's simply no way everything I want to do will fit into the next twelve months. In a bid to try and squeeze everything in, I'm hiring someone to help me organise my diary, I've bought a book (inspired by the 43 Folders blog) and I've discovered the Best Invention Ever. A little widget called an RSS Reader (the technical term is aggregator, which sounds oddly agricultural). What on earth is an RSS Reader? The best way I can explain it is that it surfs the net for you. I'm currently using the excellent (and free) FeedReader. Those that know me well will appreciate that this alone will free up at least three hours a day…
— Filed under Miscellany