I'm annoyed still at not being in Paris on the weekend. Instead of booking my flight out for Friday afternoon - not much choice of flight times from up north here - my boss books me for a 7am Monday morning flight (as a contractor I can't book my own flights or accommodation) so I'll get to Monday morning's meeting at 10.30ish. All to save my not ( Read more... )

I am delighted that the Blair government has at last made it clear that smoking tobacco will be a criminal offence. Isn't it about time, too. And smokers are such nasty people, aren't they? Of course they are. The smoking of marijuana or herbal cigarettes will, of course, and quite rightly too, remain perfectly legal ( Read more... )

When my 1975 Minolta was stolen (ok, left on a bus) I thought I'd go digital later on, once the technology around digital SLRs looked more stable (they are? ok). If there's anything that makes me long for a digital camera is when I need to scan photos, and the scanner software keeps falling over - never the twain shall meet. This isn't progress, ( Read more... )

Just back from spending the day in the big smoke with Ginny ( Read more... )

Lots of phone calls to Royal Mail over two days each of which is telling me they're closed. Today a human picked up the phone and the parcel was delivered to work and no worries about signing for it. It was an old rugby pin I'd bought from ebay, and well worth the hassle ( Read more... )

I live around the corner from where I work. A boring day so I got back to the flat around 5.30 with the intention of having a session on the weights, a shower, read the paper, then read some more Tim Winton. There's so much of Australia in his books, I'd almost forgotten about Cottee's cordials and expressions such as 'shoot through'. Are we all ( Read more... )

Reading 'The Turning'.

Had a 'Sorry You Were Out' card from Royal Mail this morning for a package that needs a signature, preferably mine, before I can have it. Never mind that I was in, not out ( Read more... )

The forecast for the coast was showers and it's been everything here today, sunny, cloudy, cold, wet which seems to be typical Northern English weather. So, next weekend for Scarborough. I'm finishing a Patrick O'Brian novel so I can start Tim Winton's The Turning, although I've so many books backing up on me now ( Read more... )

I wanted to watch 'One Perfect Day' for Abbie Cornish who I'd seen in 'Somersault' on a plane coming to or from Australia last Christmas. She reminded me of a younger version of my sister and I felt her career was like the career my sister could have had had she lived and worked through those changes to film and television and theatre that ( Read more... )