Amsterday 1

Ooh, blimey. My first working day in Amsterdam has been great - I've met a lot of people, learned a great deal and am now proficient on our in-house intranet system which has effectively quadrupled my workload for when I return to London (no bad thing). Now I have about an hour free before my dinner date with a big boss - he's taking me to a swanky tapas place which sounds delicious. In the interim, I am eating eclairs. I still have the appetite of a small African nation and am aware that my belly is distending but somehow I can't seem to get full.

Additionally, I think I may have avian flu. I have had a cold almost constantly for three weeks and I hear that H5N1 is the most likely candidate to mutate and cause an influenza pandemic that could kill up to 150 million people worldwide. This is quite scary. Plus, I've run out of Nurofen which is a disaster. I know I should go out wandering now around this stunning city but I'm freezing cold and enjoying a Dutch-dubbed rerun of Everybody Loves Raymond. Good intentions are so often trampled by American sitcoms, I find. Hmmm, I might have a nap. Although, oh my god! Neighbours with Dutch subtitles! [Two minutes later...] I don't believe it! I've seen this one. Susan has to tell that dead guy's kids that she's letting Karl move in and Lou gets drunk and gets a tattoo on the back of his neck. What are the chances? OK, sleep it is.