As everyone else appears to be swanning down to London for something or other tomorrow, I thought I'd better jump on the blog train, even though I won't be making an appearance. I don't want to feel left out.

I've been into town this morning to do some last minute things like haircut and book-buying, although nothing has been particularly successful. I was intrigued to find that our HSBC appears to have turned into a "Trendy new [coffee] bar", although you can still bank there (apparently). I was slightly taken aback by the fact that there are a choice of eight coffees, but just one tea, which was just as well as the queue to see the one receptionist was a million people long and a thousand people deep. I'm all for modernisation and efficiency, but all I wanted to do was ask a question. Trying to get any service in the place is like competing in the financial equivalent of the London Marathon and they prefer it if you don't bother the staff, just ask the cash machine.

I later discovered that they have retained some cashiers, but they have hidden them under a stone and down a secret passage way that only reveals itself to mankind every six years. I swear there are about twenty or thirty pensioners orbiting the coffee machines wondering where the hell their money has gone. I don't know if I'm going to be banking with HSBC for much longer.

I've now got the eyewateringly exciting task of unpacking everything out of the boxes and bags I filled yesterday. It's all then got to be rearranged and put back into the bags in a suitable fashion for the orient and downunder. Time to get busy.