0245 GMT

This morning, at around 1am, I messed up a handshake. There are several reasons this is a problem. The main reason that this is a problem is that I have virtually nothing else of a work nature to occupy my mind.
If this were any other well paid technical gig of the regular small-hours kind: taking a set down, loading a truck, putting truss together or driving across country; I'd have plenty to occupy my mind. And everybody else here has got plenty of that. Tonight, I am a unique indivual. Tonight Matthew, I am the House Technician.

I am here to make sure nobody hurts themselves, and that people can find their way into the building. I am here to make sure the nice electricians can find the plugs, and that the plugs are full of sparkly goodness when their powerful modern looking items are turned on. I am here to talk to our inhouse security team in a codified language, to make sure some large doors stay open for short periods of time, and a few small doors stay open for long periods of time. Mostly I am here to be the face of the venue at two in the morning, say hello and shake hands in a cheeky, cockney way by way of welcome.

And thats where messing up a handshake becomes a problem. It was easily done, The uber-carpenter I was greeting, and am on friendly terms with from previous occasions, was sat in a van, and thus higher up than me. For this reason I thought I'd give him the "Bro" upward handshake, the foundation of technical handshakes throughout the western world. However, in the darkness, my intentions were a little less than obvious, and we almost did a kind of wristgrip, The kind of things Warriors in romanticed medieval films do. I did manage to swerve out of this, and we blustered the right (Bro) handshake quickly, but the situation was lost and he thinks I'm a loser for that very brief second before his mind returned to the job.

And this is where its all good. Because he won't think about it again, as he's got a high-profile fashion showfloor to lay, and as I haven't, it gave me something to think about while on my sustenance and caffeine break.

Five to Three. A good "venue staff visibility" walkabout time, with high likelihood of cheeky comments on the slowness of their progress.