Anybody lose this?

I've been feeling a bit pressurized of late. Much too much to do and all of it needing major amounts of my time. I hate having things hanging over me and although I can deal with deadlines, the worst kind of pressure comes from the things that creep up on you. Before you know it, you find yourself having to produce the goods overnight.

Take my talk last night. I knew about it some 6 months ago. I already had a talk that covered the same subject, so when I looked at it the day before the event I suddenly realised that it was sub-standard and that I had to create a new powerpoint presentation from scratch. Hours later, I produced something that was much more relevant and far more humorous. It included a slide a blow-up doll that I once found in the grassland. I introduced as one of the rarities that I found lurking in the grassland one morning!

I'm going to Krakow, Poland next week for a few days to research my next Birdwatching Magazine article. My lovely agent, Jo, sent me an email offering her linguistic skills (she speaks Polish) on the end of a phoneline, should I need it. It was a lovely gesture.