Buildings buildings buildings

I can't say I had the best night's sleep - not least due to the inadequate curtain provision combined with the brightly lit backstreet - but I did at least have the opportunity to run through my presentation in my head a few times and so when it came to the actual event, it all went very well. I returned to the stand feeling pleased that - with the Minx's assistance - I'd done a good amount of preparation.

The rest of the day went as these things do: long periods of not much happening and flurries of activity during the breaks for coffee and lunch. We struck camp around three-thirty and took everything back to the car. I took this photo from the car park.

Like Manchester, there seems to be a lot of building going on in Birmingham, prompting me to wonder again where the money's coming from (to which everyone seems to reply "Foreign investors") and, more practically, who is going to rent and live in all this space?

Can there really be that many businesses looking for new city centre premises? Are there that many couples looking for a two bedroom flat in a highrise? Still, people keep investing and developers keep building, and I just don't know whether I've got it wrong or, whether along with all the other craziness in the world, there's some compulsive relationship between investors and builders.

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No scales
Reading: 'In Aleppo Once' by Taqui Altounyan