The New Car

So, this is my new car, a Smart Car Pulse. It's quite a change from the 6-seat Toyota MPV that I've owned for the last 7 years!

It's is quite a lot of fun, --- the ads say that you can get a tumble drier into the cargo space, but I'm not so sure. I am enjoying the semi-automatic transmission though (complete with gear-change paddles on the steering wheel).
Looking forward to 60 mpg.

Snow?

The snow we were warned of for last night came to nothing, really. There was a light covering at 5 a.m., but by 8 it was raining. Won't be much of a day, though - not convinced it will ever get light.

Worse than that, the Christmas shopping rush has started (aided by stores offering 20% reductions), so driving into Birmingham is fraught with more danger than usual!

The Family Fun Vehicle

Aged 11, and after 7 years of faithful service to me and a total of over 151,000 miles, the time has come for me to change cars. The Toyota Picnic that I've been using is far from a 'green' vehicle, so I've decided to look for something that will give me better fuel economy.

I've been researching and test-driving and made the decision yesterday - watch this space!

SNOW!

It snowed yesterday afternoon. This is unusual for October - to say the least. Of course, snow = instant inability for most people to drive sensibly, so my usual 10 minute trip home took 45 minutes instead. What fun!

Today is sunny and bright, but the temperature's pretty low (hovering around 1 degree at 09:30) and there's warning of more snow showers.

A Busy Weekend ...

Spent most of Saturday feeling as though I'd got a hangover - a bit unfair, really since my Friday had been alcohol free, so either a minor bug or stress: who knows? Went to Liaison for dinner -- excellent as ever, especially the starter of confit lamb, but the main of pork 3 ways was pretty good too.
chocolate mousse) and then to Ali's Aunt to deliver the TV magnifier we brought home from Wales last week.Had my mother over for lunch on Sunday (pumpkin soup, lamb shank with garlic mash and beans, Suddenly most of the day was gone!

High point: went on-line to look at car insurance quotes, since I thought that Direct Line were getting a bit pricey: got a quote from saga (compensations of increased age) that was £85 less with better cover! That'll buy a couple of decent bottles of wine!

Not all good news ...

It's been a busy couple of weeks: Term started and I had to get back up to speed with teaching. It's a bit weird not being Programme Director, but I'm learning to love it. French classes started too.

Took Jane (one of my Chinese PhD students) to Heathrow last week - she's safely home now.

Yesterday went to Wales to seem Mother-in-law and Father-in-law. He seems to be a bit worse again and the nursing home staff are worried that he might be in discomfort/pain -- that's not good news at all.

Then today I'm spending writing lectures for next week and doing some cooking!

Terry Pratchett - Nation

As a long time Pratchett fan, I was delighted to see his new book on sale just before we went to Nice. There was even a free pen!

Well, it's been a struggle. I thought, for the most part, it was amazingly derivative (e.g. Harry Harrison's A Transatlantic Tunnel, Hurrah! from 1972 ...). There were some interesting twists, of course, but I'm not convinced that this is Pratchett at his best - or anywhere near it. I'll read it again in a couple of weeks in the hope that I missed the best bits first time round.

So ...

Back from Nice, where the sun shone and the food was good. Actually warm enough to sit on the beach and swim in the sea.
Took trips to Cannes and to Ventimiglia, but probably won't repeat either.

So now, back to work - new students arrived yesterday!

Today, one of my PhD student has her viva voce examination -- I don't think she needs any luck, but a few good thoughts wouldn't hurt ...

And still it rains

The rain continues.... I've just spent an hour outside clearing storm water drains. I've never seen the garden so wet; the vegetable patch is a pond, the path is a river and I'm being (slightly) amused by watching the neighbours trying to bale-out their patio with a bucket when, clearly, there's nowhere to throw the water - hope they haven't got a big problem, though...

The weather forecast continues to be vile. It could stop now. Really.

FOR THE RAIN IT RAINETH EVERY DAY

I've never really believed that Shakespeare existed, but the quote from 12th Night (above) seems to say it all at the moment. It's raining AGAIN!

It's really quite depressing and the garden's suffering too - several plants (some of them quite old) have died because they can't stand being so waterlogged. The pond in the picture (not the best pic ever, I agree, but shot from my study window in the rain) is really the path. Maybe it'll discourage the squirrels from digging in the lawn?


MAKE IT STOP, PLEASE!