Nighttime

PY was in the office. I convinced him to take a portion of the pasta dinner as lunch. I also had one for my lunch, although I paired it with salad to make it slightly different. That's five of eight portions eaten.

I was in back-to-back meetings all morning. It's good as we are getting through the work. I am also forcing myself to stand up for some conversations rather than sit for three or four hours in a row. I need my brain to remember how much better it feels not to be sore when I get up at the end of a marathon conference call.

I got off my desk by 6pm to get on a train to Waterloo. I met former colleagues at the Mulberry Bush. It's opposite the old LWT tower on the south bank. I was convinced the developers were demolishing the building but was surprised to see many of it still standing as though they were cleaning up instead of replacing it. I didn't get a picture of the Tower, but the nighttime lighting on this adjacent South Bank Centre concrete was atmospheric and made today's photograph.

We always have a lovely evening together. J talked of his 'inter-railing holiday'. I remarked that I thought it was just for students, but it turns out to be a good value way of touring Europe for us oldies, too.

I must write something similar to, "It's nice to catch up with people I have known for the whole time I have lived in London" every time I meet them. But it's true. It's also true that we should meet more often.

After the pub closed, we had a slow walk back to Waterloo. I took the train while others headed to the tube. An advantage of finding a pub close to Waterloo is that I am not worried about running out of trains for the evening. Nonetheless, as soon as I got in, I made tea and ate toast as I write this. The diet was blown today, but it aided in meeting up with friends.