I don't mean that completely, of course. Just that I'm now back in London after the most recent trip, to Germany, Holland and Belgium, and it's great to be home. We were staying in the most depressing places I've ever been to, and for the first time I really struggled to stay enthusiastic about the job. Added to which, I was worried about Steph.

The high point was seeing my friend Joe and the rest, in northern Holland. He always makes the effort, as I've said before, and I appreciate that.

The rest of it was terrible; we were travelling through the areas which were most badly destroyed in the 1940s by the British and American bombers and troops. The name of the game was to raze everything to the ground, especially in the western, industrial parts of Germany. In the 1950s they wanted to build the cheapest, most practical buildings possible in the shortest time, so that life could go on, and consequently the architecture and town layouts are awful; rows and rows of nasty brick and concrete shops and houses with no thought put into them, out of necessity. It makes me feel irritated at the waste of time and resources that the war caused, but I suppose it had to be done to stop Hitler. Still, you lot in America are so very lucky that you've never been bombed in the same way that Europe was (excluding 9/11). I could imagine how the towns would have looked before the war, with ancient buildings, interesting architecture and a feeling of town community. Now it's just drab, cold, and impersonal. The weather didn't help - very cold and wet here for ages.

So I'm very glad to be back in London and sorting out wedding things; it's all going pretty well here, and Steph has even trusted me with the flowers and decorations, which may prove to be a bad move......

AND I've just booked my tickets to come to Cincy next week; I thought I was getting a buddy pass but that hasn't worked out (nobody's fault, these things just happen sometimes!) so I had to book late, and thanks to good old Delta I managed to find a great fare last minute, so I now have hard proof that I'll be in the US for three weeks from next Wedesday.... and it can't come soon enough for me!