I have no idea how today was meant to work. It has been bizarre from the get go. I woke up in someone's spare room. This is not a surprise, since I went to sleep in it too. What was slightly off putting was finding myself driving away towards my county of residence, before 7.20 in the morning. Eek. Such is the way life works if you're staying away from home.

I had various medical experiences to undergo this morning. I booked a Doctor's appointment to go with my flu jab to go with the trip to the phlebotomist - I needed a phlebotomy, apparently. So, I drove home, parked the car, switched to the bicycle and headed the 100 yards to the Doctor's surgery. The bike was, much more smartly, intended for the trip to the phlebotomist at the hospital, where parking is, to give it its official term, a total bitch. Cycling fixed that.

After all the myriad appointments, punctuated by either cycling or reading, I found myself back home on a conference call with work. Some meetings can't wait. Then I did an hour of work at home before taking the lunchbreak that delivered me to work via the supermarket.

An afternoon of work later and I was on my way to my gig in Ealing with various phone conversations in the car and a Costa coffee to break up the journey and deliver my second espresso-gasm of the day. The espresso-gasm is the term I use to describe the hit of a good strong coffee as you reach the point in the drink where it's really getting into your system.

To be honest, the combination of this drink and the coldness of the venue in Ealing did nothing to give me a sense of cool and relaxedness. I was a bit jittery as I watched the show unfold and found it hard to get into the mood of the gig. When I got up there to do my set, I got more into it and built something of an interaction with the crowd. It wasn't a rocking gig, though. I think I enjoyed it. It had some nice unique moments.

I'm going to have to watch my caffeine intake if it's going to affect my performance so.