Dudley

Well, not Dudley exactly, but the lesser known nearby town of Kingswinford. I'm sitting at the top of a squat, five storey building, looking out over the houses and surrounding countryside. It's as flat a landscape as you could imagine outside the Netherlands...

The sky this morning is a smooth, cool blue, and a fading white marble moon is still suspended there, gradually disappearing from view. A convoy of fluffy white clouds is making its way slowly across the panorama from right to left and a rowdy flock of seagulls is circling the industrial buildings below. I wonder what's attracted their attention. When they fly close together, they look like the beginnings of a little whirlwind.

In the time it takes to type this, they've descended upon a corrugated roof. They look for all the world like they're awaiting further instructions from leader gull, whoever that may be.

And I wish I had my camera. That's why I'm using words to paint the picture instead.

I've been looking forward to this trip. This is my third one since I started the new job, and I've been looking forward to this one, since I am the IT Manager for this office as well as Belfast. Kind of an absentee Manager, but thanks to modern technology I can pretty much manage it from Belfast without too much hassle.

From the outside, the office tower is pretty grim. If the sky was blanketed in cloud this morning, I'm sure it would look much worse. But against a crisp, cobalt blue backdrop, and the leafy design of the industrial park we're based in, the dark reddish brown building isn't even a concern.

This is the second day of a two-day trip to do an IT audit and check out this new part of my job. I stayed in the Village Hotel in Dudley last night, a comfortable evening supplemented with a nice meal, some free web surfing and an early night for once. Weather's great today - looking forward to flying into City Airport just in time for rush hour!