Burst Attention Span

Last week I was working in Zürich on a project for a banking services company. I'm not a fan of commuting, much less so when I have to get up at 5.30am to catch a train every day and even much less so when I'm not back home again until 10.30pm each night. The cumulative effect of this stressful, coffee-fuelled week of travelling and meeting ridiculous deadlines was that I fell foul of a sinus/throat/chest virus as soon as I relaxed on Friday night and dropped into a delirious fever for two days. If my girlfriend hadn't been around at my place to care for me and keep me hydrated I really don't know what would have happened.

I spent the early half of this week in hospital in the UK having routine tests done on me. It's true what they say about UK hospitals too, they're dirty and unpleasant smelling and the staff were mostly impersonal and seemingly immune to the feelings of patients. Admittedly, I probably didn't enhance the experience by going out out drinking with my mates the weekend before – the resulting hangover combined with the stress of being a fairly healthy young man in a ward full of seriously sick old guys for 2 days and nights was shattering. While listening to the beeps, moans and shudders from the beds around me I vowed to take a bit more care of myself so I don't end up back in there for real someday.