I've worked out that I will spend each Thursday this month in a different country due to the TW global roadshow that I am co-ordinating. First up was my two days in Bangalore and this week it's Calgary. But joy of joy's I'm here for 4 days, which is great.

On Friday I presented my talk on Agile Software Development and Improvised Comedy a.k.a Who's Line of Code is it Anyway Eh? (<<- for the Canadian audience) at the ThoughtWorks Canada away day. That went down really well and although it's hard to run a comedy workshop for a group of over 50 people, 50 ThoughtWorkers actually makes it easier. On Saturday TW Canada had organised a day out in the mountains and there was hiking, horseback riding or whitewater rafting which I chose. It suddenly dawned on me that the Kananaskis river on which we would raft was probably a glacier two days ago and likely to be fairly chilly (to put it mildly). I was VERY relieved when they gave me a wet suit :)

The rafting was fantastic. After a few days of rain it was warm and sunny and the guides were loving it too. The river wasn't too extreme - I think we went over one class III rapid which was perfect for my first time (and a group ageing in range from about 6 to 74!). One thing I learned that I found really mind boggling is that the Kananskis river flows from a hydro-electric project at Barrier Lake and they turn the river off at night! That must be an amazing sight as they close the barrier and the river just drains away. And then again in the morning when they start the flow - what a sight that must be! Anyway it means that the people who run the canoeing and rafting operations on the river can wander around on the riverbed and arrange the boulders and rocks in such a way as to make the ideal rapids and hits for aquatic fun. That seems both very wrong and kind of fantastic as well. What a world. The other key fact to take away is that Barrier Lake was the lake used in the X-men films. Nice.

Having the weekend in Calgary has also meant having the chance to catch up with Ashley and Turner and meet their gorgeous daughter Sloane who is even lovelier in the flesh than in the photos. I also got a chance to watch some World Cup action round at Ashley's dad's place on his incredible home theatre system. The screen was probably 8 feet wide - it was like sitting in the 5th row. Talking of sport let me just say - Come on England! Come on you Oilers!

Two more nights in Cowtown - next stop Malvern, PA! And my next Thursday location will start in Salt Lake City, pause briefly in San Francisco and then end up in Chicago. Ayee Caramba.