Ergh. I shouldn't have drunk the wine last night. That and a too warm room has left me feeling rather grotty.

Never mind! I get to command the attention of a room full of people later today, maybe point out a few things. Who knows.

Yesterday I managed to speak to the Director General of the NHS workforce, the woman who is ultimately my boss. How could I let such an opportunity slip?

I told her that the reason that a lot of NHS staff are unhappy is because of having to chase targets, and that these targets are often clinically pointless. That because of resources being directed to hit these targets patient care is suffering and that, no matter how cynical we might be, ultimately we get annoyed when we can't give the care we would like to.

She appeared to pay attention and jotted a few things down in a notebook, although obviously I'm not hugely hopeful - she has her bosses to report to as well.

In about two hours I'll get to hear Nick Clegg talk about mental health. Perhaps I'll collar him and let him know the truth about the out of hours provision, or rather lack thereof...

Then I get my chance to present something which, contrary to tradition, starts with an insult rather than a joke. I'm not quite sure where to go after insulting everyone, but I've got two hours to work it out.

So far everyone I've met has been really nice and the Guardian are looking after me very well (as an aside, is it Guardian policy to only employ women who are lovely?) Last night during dinner I shared a table with someone who works in the cabinet office, a PR person, one of the bosses of the Guardian, someone who works with an advisory charity and Tim Campbell (and yes, I was the only person who didn't know who he was). Despite moving in these lofty circles I still found everyone to be very personable and had a nice chat with them over a very tasty dinner.

Right - time for me to get ready to hit some politicians and planners with the big stick of truth. That or stand up and make a prat of myself by not using words such as 'dynamic' or 'engage'.