The weather on the afternoon of the 30^th was starting to go downhill again. Forecasts were predicting intermittant showers for the next two or three days. However this didn'st stop us celebrating Darren's arrival with a few beers (or Rum & cokes) on the balcony. We also cracked open a couple of packets of chips and the bullshit naturally began to flow as the mighty yangtse.

"What is the purpose of travel?" was the first topic for discussion. Darren wanted to convince us that anyone who travels does so for enlightenment. I disagreed; I travelled to Sydney for money, enlightenment is online wherever you are. Darren explained that if enlightenment is what you are looking for, then London is the wrong place to look anyway.

Tim had to announce at this juncture that he felt that Darren had changed. Time had been making accusations throughout the party of people having "sold out." This seemed odd to me, since I never really thought my friends had any social or political principles to sell. Specifically Tim's charges were that Darren had become domesticated. He no longer showed the disrepect for the system he had when yonger. He had become the kind of person who would enjoy carrying cornish pastries for his elders. The argument was decisively resolved when Darren was called inside by Jess' mother to receive his christmas present.

Of course, when such a number of nerd-like people are gathered drunk in one place, the inevitable comparison of Macs and PCs arose. We all displayed our significant maturity by dropping the subject immediately.