All mod cons

I felt a devastating sense of loss for something which I had never had, and it didn't occur to me that that something was a thing which no one ever possesses for the simple reason that it is something which is created in being seen and which exists only for the spectator without whom it could never become an object to tantalize.

The keynote today is an exploration of the analogy between constructing buildings and software. Not entirely satisfactory.

The clouds have rolled in, the temperature has dropped, and rain has forced the catering to a sheltered spot. Meanwhile, Claire is in Mallaig, in blistering sun. It’s a topsy turvey world.

Matt and Sal do their stuff. We record a podcast at lunchtime with Kent Beck. Steve and Aslak continue working on their Friday workshop. I deliver my contract testing session. And it’s time to go to the pub and say goodbye to Sal.

A final trip into Porto, for dinner with a Sixty-North. We’re accompanied by Michael from Pittsburgh, who tomorrow will fly home, meet his wife at the airport, and then immediately fly off again (for a family event). Because.

We eat at O Rapido. It’s stupendous, traditional, varied. There’s tripe, gizzard, cheeks. I order beef, which turns out to be steak. We eat till we’re bursting.

I leave early. It’s all becoming a bit of a blur.