Don't quit your day job

The chequered flag fell on Friday and I roared over the line in about 7th place, ready to shrug in disinterest and start the best bit of work - not going there. This time it's going to be done in style - we've picked up our Fuji climbing tickets, our rental boots and wet weather gear are on their way and in about 1 week, we'll be wondering what the hell we were thinking. Until then though it's as much of nothing as possible; the only hiking we're going to be doing is between beer joints and roller coasters.

Scene missing

It's now officially the last week of work before more holidays, which I suppose makes this "week 10". There's no outward sign of this other than me loudly slurping on a carton of iced coffee, which in your average week 10 would be the only thing stopping me from smashing like a dropped Ming vase. But no, apart from last week lasting about 3 months, things have been almost (but not entirely) unremarkable.

Grindstone cowboy

I was expecting some kind of explosion when I got back to work, or at least opening the office door to find myself washed away by a comical tide of paper. Things were suspiciously quiet though - Monday passed without so much as a rumble and then I went on a brief business trip to Tokyo and came back similarly unaccosted. I can hear the beast lurking in the shadows though, paper skin all a-crinkle. He watches me through hole-punched eyes and gnashes his paperclip teeth, waiting for the moment I drop my guard and say wow, not long till holidays.