Lunchtime Interaction

I didn't have a chance to get out of the hotel all day yesterday so I was determined to make my escape for half an hour at lunchtime. Roermond is a very pleasant town with a delightful open square at its centre and very photogenic. It was the people, though, that I was drawn to rather than the buildings. I seem to have determined that Street Photography is a lot easier as a tourist than as a local. I certainly felt considerably more at ease walking around with my camera today. I managed to engage and get a cheery acknowledgement from just about everyone I photographed. They all appeared to be quite honoured and amused by my attention. Perhaps that was a result of my own body language, or I guess this could just be a very friendly place?

I prefer to get my shot before I'm observed but I didn't quite manage it in this instance. Nevertheless, I rather like the look of surprise and self-consciousness on the faces of the couple. And I especially like the look of detached contentment on the nearest fellow! I took a few more photos of these people, with their tacit approval, rather enjoying the couple's observation of social convention by giving their friend his requisite personal space. I don't think he was actually too bothered at all.

It's been a difficult workshop today, dealing with the most complicated of our interfaces. More people have been brought in and decisions previously made have been revisited and a few changed. Consensus has sometimes been hard to find. The complexity has been overwhelming for everybody. It's occasionally been a painful process but it's confirmed my belief that this is the only way to properly develop software. I am simultaneously enthused by the great work that I think we're doing here and scared by the enormity of the task that we've set ourselves.

We've worked hard today and everyone was exhausted when we called a close to proceedings. I'm just taking the opportunity to post this before we go out to dinner. If it is anything like last night it should be a lot of fun. Work hard and play hard seems to be the motto amongst the people here. I may wilt a bit because I was up at 7am (6am UK time) to take up an invitation to work out in the gym before breakfast. I have my reputation to uphold so I couldn't really refuse. I've not been on a treadmill in years and got a little carried away! Despite a cold shower afterwards I was still sweating profusely over my bowl of muesli!