Group of us trawled around this afternoon doing a 'practice tour' and working out where we walk, what we say (and what we don't say).

Nothing like as slick as TheOldPlace with its 6 stops and a coherent plan of what to say. Now we have a sheet of paper with a route and things to point out all along it. No wonder it took us an hour! It's not helped by not everything being quite in place yet (some work moving photocopiers for example will go on over the weekend) and it will probably be a couple of weeks before everything is finally fixed and signage completed, but Monday at 11 should see the first tour starting out (assuming there are any takers).

I've signed up in some of the slots to lead the things but I can't help wondering how much I might find it easier to pick out half a dozen 'stops' and work out something along the lines of what I've been used to! (And then if I do that, would anyone be amenable to following suit?) The biggest problem is that the guy who's organizing the tours and everything to do with them is Mr Negativity himself and more than a little opposed to things that almost everyone else seems to want to see implemented. So I shall be wary.

But the anticipation of the front doors finally opening almost makes me regret I'll be away at a conference from Monday to Wednesday of next week. Still, consolation arrived this afternoon in the form of official notification of the $400 we're each being given as a 'major recognition award' it's being called.