So, let's see, walked into work, arrived at 9:20 (oops), answered questions then finally turned on my computer to find ... a four hour training meeting that I was five minutes late for. Went to the meeting, had my "I need this to survive" cup of tea kicked over, then ... well, had a lot of fun practicing listening skills. (Seriously.) Heard the line, "Listening is an intellectual exercise that requires you to use your brain" and actually found myself agreeing with the speaker! (I could talk about this more if people are interested in not just how to listen, but how to ask people questions in a way that gets them to talk. One thng I learned: "Assume people want to do better and you will deliver negative feedback in a more productive/less destrutive way." Apparently some managers go into a meeting like this with a lot of fear and it makes it really hard for them to approach it in a way that isn't frightening for the person who's being given the "feedback.")

It was fun and all, but the four hours I was in the class REALLY killed the rest of my day, and I had so much high priority stuff to deal with I wound up ... well, not getting it all done. I've spent more time trying to get environments up and shepharding bugs (Webcowgirling, basically) than I had hours in the day - I ate at my desk while reading the email that had come in between 9:35 and 1:30 and it was all madness, and I had an interview, too. At least that went well.

Dinner tonight at Fujiyama in Brixton. I can't wait to try it - will it be the Japanese food I've been missing so much since I was forcibly separated from Maekawa?