Sh!t of a job, heck of a lifestyle I have borrowed this expression from an Australian colleague of mine I had the pleasure to be with again recently and it probably explains my coming week pretty well.

This morning I was in the office at ridiculous o'clock to prepare for a day of client meetings that start with a breakfast at 8.30am and conclude with a dinner, with a lunch thrown in for good measure in the middle. No wonder I feel like a fat lard at the moment, despite running around in 90 degree heat midday yesterday playing football.

On Tuesday we all fly to New York. An afternoon of meetings with a dinner after and then Wednesday I have other stuff to do there, including catching up with an old London business associate of mine for, you guessed it, breakfast!

I fly home Wednesday night and will be in the office on Thursday but then have another dinner that evening, in one of my favourite Chicago restaurants Joes. Friday morning I go back to the airport and take a short flight to St Louis for a lunch which I called, and therefore can’t get out of, to resolve an ongoing war of words between a client and their underwriters.

Friday night you can bet I will be calling out for a night that involves nothing more than a mug of tea and an early night.  ¶ 07:40