Panmure House - lecture, reception and dinner

There was nothing exceptionally interesting about the day. I spent the morning being "broadcast at" in two meetings. Hmmmm. So much for processes being consultative.

After the second one, I came back to the flat to have lunch and take it relatively easy as I had an evening engagement. I managed to write a fairly long email to staff about "stuff". I hope it didn't come across as "broadcast mode". I had one piece of feedback from a PS colleague saying it had landed well with the people she works with.

Later on, the day picked up. I had a haircut, which was soooo much needed. Much more comfortable now, although my scalp is still a bit itchy. I walked down to the hairdresser and then took the bus into town. Everything worked so snappily that I was rather early for my next appointment so hung around outside reading my emails and responding to a few of them on the phone. The lecture was by Sheilagh Ogilvie on her recent book on pandemics. With the benefit of a bit more distance from THE pandemic, I am a bit more open to understanding more some of the lessons of history in relation to pandemics more generally. Her comments on market, state and civil society were extremely clear and cogent, and her argument about the mix that works best was pretty convincing. I bought the book and look forward to reading it.

I stayed for the reception and for the dinner, and got the chance to talk to quite a few interesting people, including the speaker who has a connection to the same Cambridge college as me. The food was excellent. A good event.