What a difference a day makes, as they say. Instead of rushing around frantically, packing and getting all the last minute details in place for my trip to Malaysia, I spent this morning lounging in bed. Finally stumbled out of bed around 11am to discover a warm, sunny day outside.

My biggest task today is the laundry. If I can manage that, I’ll have accomplished my goals. My secondary task is to find a parking spot for my car. My apartment came with one reserved spot — which is a problem when you’ve got two cars. Canterbury is a pedestrianized town, so parking is pretty hard to come by. I’ve got a lead on one spot — outdoor, but secure — but I’m really trying to track down a garage.

Aude told me that there’s a wine festival on in Calais — basically, they mark down all of the bin-ends at this time of year to make way for the new wines. Unfortunately, she didn’t mention this festival until this morning, by which time it was already too late to book. You know what they say about the road to hell?

So it looks like we’ll have a quiet day here instead. A few new shops have opened up here in Canterbury, all of which are calling Aude’s name, so we’ll go and have a look at what they have to offer. Canterbury isn’t a terribly exciting place, so we celebrate our little victories.

Now that I’m not flying to Malaysia (not this week, anyhow), I’m left with the rather daunting task of trying to arrange a birthday party for next weekend. I was sort of hoping that if I ignored it long enough, it would go away.

It’s been a busy day, but one that’s yielded some exciting news (well, exciting for me in any case). More details about this early next week.

Wow, what a day it’s been. I was up at 5am to catch the train to London, where I was supposed to meet with a colleague who was recently working with the same client in Brunei. She had made quite a few contacts within the client, was familiar with their organisation, and was going to spend some time with me to get me up to speed.

So I put on a suit (had to pull off the mothballs, it’s been so long since I’ve worn one!) and trudged up to London. It’s a grey, overcast, miserable day. I was all set to go — the tickets were booked, I had my jabs, I’d done all my background reading. And where do I end up at the end of the day?

That’s right. Right back where I started.

It’s been a busy day, though — I had another appointment in Surrey. Surrey isn’t far from London (about 35 miles) or Canterbury (about 90 miles) but you can’t get directly from one to the other — so it was a case of going into London to come back out again. What should have been a simple journey was a 3+ hour marathon.

In this business, it’s best to have a flexible, relaxed attitude. Consultancy definitely isn’t for those who like to plan well in advance. This (and my aborted Alaskan adventure) just show that, until the contract’s signed, nothing is certain.

I’ve got no idea what’s next for me. But my vacation is only two weeks away, so I’m not worrying too much about it right now!

Well, clients will be clients. At the 11th hour, the client has pulled the funding for the project. It looks like I’m not going to Malaysia after all.

Maybe someplace else exotic? Time will tell…

Alright, I realise that I’m probably asking the impossible here — but does anyone know anything about VOIP? I’m trying to figure out the best way to call back to the US and UK from Malaysia.

I’m considering using VOIPBuster or Skype to call back home. I’ve already bought myself a VOIP handset.

If any of you guys has experience with VOIP, drop me an e-mail or leave a comment here. Thanks!

(If you’ve read this far and are still confused, here’s a definition of VOIP.)

So far I’ve been told that I’m pale and have a double-chin. Glad to see that everyone’s thinking of me.

For those of you who asked, no, it’s not Aude who will be staying in my flat. She’s met the neurotic cats and knows better. One of her friends will do the honours — although I must admit, it wasn’t too hard to find someone who wanted to flat-sit. SAIC set me up with a pretty nice place.

Time for bed — I’ve got to be up at 5:30 tomorrow to meet with a colleague in London who’s just returned from Brunei. Apparently, she’s got all the local knowledge which she’s going to pass on to me.