Well, commencing my second week of commuting has certainly taken its toll on my general health, wellbeing and levels of exhaustion.
For the first time, I’ve found myself sleeping in the mornings on the way in to London. Falling asleep in the evenings is sort of common place, as it is a regular sight on the five thirty train to see swathes of middle-aged office workers fast asleep like babies; their heads lolling with the motion of the train.

However, my new-found napping in the mornings is slightly odd. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s my body telling me that at 8.20am I should still be tucked up in bed as opposed to competing for elbow room with the suited and booted I find myself surrounded by.

Once I’ve actually arrived here, the tiredness wears off and the real work begins. I’ve still found that the work load has been steady, and that my previous concerns regarding boredom are unfounded. I’ve managed to happily sit behind the laptop here for 6 hours a day and manage to occupy myself with work.

Most of my time here this week has been spent doing research into forum groups on the internet- seeing what books people on the net are talking about at the moment. I’ve managed to come to the rather unsurprising conclusion that the Harry Potter series, despite being finished, is still thriving on the online forums. It would appear that although the books aren’t being produced anymore, Pottermania is still well and truly thriving.
Another task was typing out five minute stories for an anthology. For this, people had been given only five minutes to write a short story of whatever it was that came into their head first. This resulted in some very ‘interesting’ handwriting along with some very, very ‘interesting’ ideas. However, I did thoroughly enjoy reading what people had to offer and the creativity they had managed to demonstrate in only five minutes! I’m not sure I’d have been able to produce some of the work they had in that time!

Looking through the book news items this week, the most interesting item I have come across is that of the e-Book being available on the Sony ‘Reader’. The idea behind this is that Sony has collaborated with Waterstone’s in order to bring books into the digital age. This concept means that you can download around 160 books onto a hand-held portable ‘reader’, therefore meaning that you can have an entire library in your handbag.

As my stint commuting to Dalston draws to a close, I can’t say that I won’t miss the prolonged journey that has become my timetable for the past couple of weeks. However, I will definitely miss working here. I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and I am taking away many skills that I’ve acquired and that I hope to use in the future.