In the basement of the Muirhead Tower at the University of Birmingham, SPC and I learnt to program. I was surprised at the ease in which I could code. If only it were so easy to program domestic appliances at home!
At the end of the session we took the boat back across a very choppy ocean to the United States of America. For much of the journey I lay stretched out precariously across the top of the vessel. I was almost thrown into the water on a number of occasions.
Our final destination was Washington. There we joined the short queue outside a tatty Victoria theatre that comprised curious members of the public waiting to pick up tickets for President Trump’s inauguration ceremony. The woman in charge gave us each a yellow card to gain access to the auditorium. It was obvious that she had no interest at all in our identities, nor whether we might pose a security threat. The organisers were simply grateful that there would be an audience for this event.
I followed my colleague SC up the filthy staircase to the very top of the building. Although there were plenty of spare seats below, SC argued that we would get a better sense of the ceremony and the audience from a position in the upper circle. We each took a wooden throne-like seat in the front row and wondered whether anything would ever happen on the bare stage below.
Dreamaticus 