Sara came over from Barcelona to visit prompting an ex-Gemmie meet-up with Jess and Achim. Me and Sara were the only ones left by about 10pm and we went on the hunt for a cup of tea, stopping off at the old Gemstar office at Blacklands Terrace to see what it was like and if anyone was occupying it. Seems a bit empty to be honest!

An unexpected visit to the CAMRA Great British Beer Festival at Earl's Court with Seb, Will and Subhi. We bumped into Matt and his family so I got to play with his 450D a little bit. Sadly not many photos because my own G9 ran out of batteries and I'd left the spare battery in the hotel room - bah!

After the Paleday gig we went for a beer at Horniman's next to HMS Belfast.

Disco/pop band Paleday perform live at The Scoop on London's south bank next to City Hall. The sun wasn't out but at least it didn't rain, and some folks even got up to dance! A fab 45-minute set from Anthony and the gang.

Testing Steve's 18-55 IS kit lens on the London skyline, from his Putney flat.

The annual dinner for Wakefield Cathedral OCA, taking place at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Wakefield. Me and Si were the only ones of our era around save for Nicholas Whitaker (who blanked us - rough boys!). The after-dinner speaker was David Hope, former Bishop of Wakefield, Bishop of London and Archbishop of York - very good to see him after so long (both me and Si sang at his enthronement in the early 80s). After the dinner we went exploring a bit and went up to to the school museum where we found some caps and got a bit loud.

In between meetings I wandered up the banks of the Thames, saw a helicopter at Battersea Heliport, and watched workmen cleaning Nelson's Column. How exciting!

The London skyline as seen from Steve's 8th-floor balcony in Putney, looking east.

I wish I could tell you more about this beer-up, but I have very little memory of it. No idea of the names of the girls on the photos other than the redhead girl was called Georgia, another was called Jenny and the group were (mostly) from Melbourne... or why I took the time-lapse photos outside. All very random.

It's been many years since I'd last seen any of the Gemstar staff, and through Facebook we'd got back in touch - well, at least some of us. Myself, Achim, Jess, Paul and Andy hit the cocktails at Henry J Bean's in London, 10 years since we worked together in Sloane Square.

A wander through the Christmas-decorated West End, and a photo of Battersea Power Station on the 30th anniversary of the release of the Pink Floyd album 'Animals'.

Some bits and bobs from London work, including a couple of a night out in Fulham with friends.

A brief meet-up of some London geeks including Howard, Justin, Will, Kyrian, Tim, Jodi and Sarah. Plenty of nice beer and things to try, and discussions before heading our separate ways.

First of all, the remains of the day at Mailbox Internet which moved out shortly after it was taken over by 186k - lots of quietness and boxes hanging around, all we needed was the tumbleweed. Then up to the West End where I dropped in to the AIR Store on Wardour Street and met with Kiran for a few gin and tonics and heard the gossip.

My goodness! I met up for a rather large amount of wine at The Mission in Fulham, with Woody, Steve, Alexx, Alex, Diney and Sassy. A wonderful evening, where I drank way too much in too short a space of time and crashed badly.

Back into the UK, for dinner with Ollie and Will at Pizza Express. Oh, and Joel got told off by a policeman for taking photos of the family.

The first stage of our trip to France, meeting up with Tim and Richard in London. We had pizza and then wandered round Covent Garden, listening to an excellent band called The Dualers.

Returning up the M1, and back to the children who were (by and large) pleased to see us.

The event we'd come to London to see - on a wet Sunday afternoon we wandered around London and met Mad Jane, then off over to Hammersmith to meet up with Will and Ollie for the Pet Shop Boys gig. Finally afterwards a wander up to Riverside Studios for a quiet drink and a contemplate on how fab the gig had been. Yay!

Shifting almost 40 servers from London Docklands up to Leeds - not many photos (we were concentrating on working) but you get an idea of the work involved!

The annual excuse to get ratarsed, this time at Cowshed in Wakefield. We had a good showing of Fotopic staff and moderators, including Sam who came up from Tenby, and some of the London folks; finally got to bed at 3:30am full of beer and dreading the following day's hangover.

A rare opportunity for a list meet with other geeks, friends and colleagues including people I hadn't seen since I left Mailbox. Nicky arrived for the event as well and sat on Richard's knee.

A trip to London to the Mac Expo, with the original intention of buying a Mac Mini. We were in Olympia for probably 15 minutes when we decided that boredom had set in and went to the pub instead.

The final day of the London trip, we pottered down to Twickenham for an Italian Sunday lunch with Nairn.

We met up with Tim and Will, and pottered off to London Zoo to see giraffes and lions and crocodiles and bears. Because of dust on the Canon's CCD, I was using the Powershot here and it kept running out of batteries, but not before I'd got some nice shots.

We managed to cram some more wine into the car before getting on the ferry at Boulogne, then landing in London and happening upon a mad free concert in the middle of Trafalgar Square.

Second leg of the road trip, leaving London and heading to the Speedferries terminal at Dover. We got there a bit early so stopped in the town centre where the children dragged us round Dover Museum. The crossing to Boulogne was windy and at a steady 32 knots was fast: the kids loved it! Finally we stopped at the Novotel in Amiens for the night.

The first day of our holiday involved driving to London so that Joel could sort out some maintenance in GS1. For dinner, we pottered to Canary Wharf and had pizza, then strolled back to Docklands Travelodge to get some kip.

Wine with Jen and Sarah after a trip back from London.

A trip to a London party turned into a trip to go find ice-cream in Leicester Square at the Haagen-Dazs shop, with Jen and Tim.