Ahead no shoulders

Sitting up and writing this is a desperate attempt to ward off the jet lag by staying awake until at least 11pm, even though it’s now only 9pm which is really 2am, bearing in mind I got up at 5.45am. Now take away the number you first though of. I feel a little strange it's true, and I have no wine to take the edge off.

As I write this I can look up from my desk at this very view – impressive ha? Well, I think it is. It makes a change from the Thames at any rate. The journey was a breeze – although the shuttle driver who took me from JFK to New Haven drove like a demon, lurching from one side of the road to the other, swerving up embankments and making liberal use of the hard shoulder. As we drove away from Queens and over the bridge onto the interstate 278 to Connecticut I caught a tantalising glimpse of Manhattan, then on we bounced to Greenwich (can’t get away from it), Fairfield (impressive university), Milford (I think there might be money there) and finally New Haven - my stop. I had a bit of a Larry David moment when I hesitated over tipping the gargantuan driver – needless to say we did not part on the best of terms. Then my lower lip had a wobble when the concierge at the apartment building told me he had no record of my booking and there was nothing that could be done about it. I sat down in the foyer and wondered if it would be OK to stretch out on a sofa and sleep there. Ten minutes later a light bulb came on and the guy remembered there was a parcel for me with keys – nice touch.

It’s blinking humid. I’m playing the noisy air-co off against the more traditional open windows at the moment. I think open windows wins. I took a stroll around the block and peered in at some of the imposing university buildings. I even located the Yale Center for British Art, so at least I’m definitely in the right place. Tomorrow is Independence Day – and I’ve been invited to a party thrown by a senior Yale academic...I'd better watch my P's and Q's or it could all kick-off before I've even started.