9°C, windy. but fairly dry & warm

---

The list of things needing repairs is growing like snow rolling down a hill purportedly does. The bike has a broken wheel + a twisted chain; a drain is blocked, roof leaks on the shed, a sofa needs patching, and other things I can't be bothered to think about right now.
At least I could ride the bike home, but not risking that wheel again. It's not even that old, only a few thousand miles and it broke through the rim at a eyeleted spoke hole; they're not supposed to do that.
....bum!

9°C, respite from rain.

---

Where have I put my latest P60? I really need to find this startlingly plain document amongst the other plain sheets that I get sent every month.
If anyone knows where it is; please tell me in a comment.

Bessie appears to be searching in this photo, but clearly she has misunderstood the nature of the problem.
Hewlet Packard printers are very economical to use. They use almost no ink, and any paper that it prints out can be recycled. All you do is take the plain white paper that it normally churns out and put it back in the lower tray because, though it does consume ink, none of it gets onto the paper.The only drawback is with this printer, like the Epson I had before, is that it is incapable of doing what printers are supposed to do. But I mustn't loose sight of the fact that there is no running cost beyond the electricity that it consumes, and the rage that it generates.

8°C. sun & showers

---

Switch-on: I put the heating on yesterday. It's only on for a few hours each day so far. A bit later than last year, but autumn was colder then. The ride home today was rather horrible- the black wet road didn't show up the light pools very well. Dry road is clear enough even with spots of water on my specs. Wet roads are not so, car headlights do light up the kerb-stones though so little chance of hitting the verge and taking a spill.

16°C, wam and wet (weather), brewing up to let's-see-what.

---

A scary prospect? No, indeed I am invincible!

14°C, grey, mizzle

---

How dull misty wet, it's dripping from every free standing object. I want to be westwards.

Perhaps Rosie is appreciating her sheep-effect rug more than that canine-jumper. Tasteful huh?

24°C, fair +

---

Prepare for the Alpine adventure. Stuff organised. I failed to buy travel insurance from my bank today. In I walked and found someone to deal with, who sent me to an empty room with a phone to get a quote. The phone number I was given patched me through to one of those press-#-robots. the reason I walked there in the first place was to avoid those infuriatingly tedious machines. I wanted to speak to a human being, I'm not lonely and seeking the company- but humans are easier to deal with. So I hung up and bought the package elsewhere. Lloyds; are you reading this?

19°C, some epic rainstorms today

---

Deep: deep down to-the-bone tiredness. I know I have talked of this before, but the feeling stirs memories of previous end-of-term feelings. My whole being seems to know there is only a few weeks to go.
With all that, writing up a risk-assessment is the worst thing to do - at the best of times it saps all of your verve. We all have to do these, but consider the numbers, the hours spent and multiply by the payrate. It's a privilege to live in a country with such overflowing wealth.
A recession; there can't be?

---

Crane fly- what are you doing here two months early?

25°C, mostly sun, rain figured, wind barely so.

---

Wild Orchids: Looks whiter in the photo than on the ground. A good find Mum.

Last few days have been plagued by punctures, on the bike this time. What do you know... you have none for nearly a year then several in one week. It's so
r a n d o m ! Note the use of the teenagers' "random".
If it wasn't, the puncture rate may be more evenly spread over time. Reminds be of the doodlebug paradox (which isn't one).

26°C, clouding over.

---

Beech in full bloom and humming. Ideal is this weather to hear the throngs working at these flowers. the still air only carries the soft buzzing of thousands of insects, mainly bees. An evening to listen to the quietness in its minuteness.

22°C, milky, warm v. humid.

---

The heat is building, hot is coming here next week
.
Stay in, relax, read and do some computer graphics. Here is a figure rendered with a normal map, and global illumination.I don't do that much rendering these day, mostly building objects for the flight sim.Can you guess what a small nuance of a passing thought was when this came out?

MJ RIP: no, it's never going to happen. Michael Jackson will never be allowed to rest in peace. There will be an endless cycle of conspiracy theories, legal wranglings, court cases, re-issues, writs, biographies, films, documentaries and autopsies. The media will canonise him; in the way that Elvis, Diana, Marc Bolan, Lennon, ML King, the list is long, but perhaps a list of names at surprisingly even intervals in time.

18°C, light clouds, getting lighter

---

Contact lenses: tried out a trial pair today. They were uncomfortable to put in (the optician did that bit) but no real sensation after that. Seeing was another matter- vision was clear for half of the time but each thing you look at as you go about your day could be blurred or clear. The sens partially flaots in the tears on your eyes, which sometimes lifts the lens, sometimes it aligns true. Sometimes, patches were blurred, others amazingly clear. At best, there was no chromatic aberration and certainly none of that mildly irksome barrel distortion that I get with glasses. However, you just don't ever know when you glance at something that it will beclear- probably a real nuisance when driving.

18°C, sun all day 'till 21.30

---

Nice late evening walk in good company (bar the midges & gnats). Big skies and full colour palette.

17°C, routine summer weather, C=20

---

I'm sorry that my dogs make others' look rubbish. Rosie climbs mountains with me, she has an instinctive knowledge of the routes. Bessie has stayed at home but impressed me for another reason. This last few days she has not been well, she needs to get to the garden more often than usual- perhaps it's something that she ate. Last night she woke me a couple of times to go out, she paced around, she fussed and bothered. A lesser dog would have quietly left a dollop on the carpet and hoped for the best, but not Bessie- she desperately wants to do the 'right thing'. If she isn't getting the message across- she'll resort to barking at you.

So I say sorry to those of you with likeable but slightly inferior dogs.

25°C, no clouds

---

Time for rest: not surprising really, I have done over 30 hours exercise in the last week.

19°C, SW light, summer clouds.

---

Taken: Film, action thriller with a paternal pride virtue. Even taking the Bourne trilogy's absurdities, this one is beyond the ability to suspend disbelief. You may already know of my loathing for car chases, this does nothing to change my feeling on that. There is machine gun fire straight from "The A-Team". It's a shame really because the film does have themes with virtues; it's just as if the director-committees took over. The character set is populated by stereotypes &  parodies, but there is something. The relationship between Father and ex-wife is potentially interesting. Did we really need a super-hero actionman to fix it all up between them though?  If we are stupid- yes. I didn't hate this film, I just don't enjoy thinking about it afterwards much.

Cool: the fridge is mended. A valve developed a leak and the coolant evaporated leaving the motor spinning away against air. If that happens to yours, then switch it off- the motor needs the coolant to cool itself down too.
I wonder how my ol' grandparents' fridge worked since it was gas powered.

17°C, mostly sunny. The wind has ceased.

---

Fix: added an iPod connector to my car stereo, I have routed the cables so that the iPod connector pokes out through one of those blank switches. It's well worth doing because the sound quality is far better, and the iPod charges up while plugged in.I felt very clever after putting this one in. Making an upgrade is always far more satisfying than repairing something back to its past condition (unless it has been annoyingly "bost" for ages).

The Break: now the fridge-freezer has lost its cold. The motor is making a loud buzzing noise and not keeping either compartment cold. A quick trawl of the web suggests that the compressor has failed and it needs a new one. My guess is a £100 repair bill for that. Cheaper than a new fridge though. Fridges are not interesting.

18°C, windy, warm & quite humid

---

Not far from home: it's possible to escape into what looks like remote countryside, just church spires are visible in the city, poking above the heavy trees.
Plenty in bloom, small delicate flowers, they are tricky to track down in the reference book. The even smaller blue ones are even more intricate and remarkable. Harder to photograph though. This Fuji pocket camera is really quite poor in many ways. Replacement is looking unlikely because of the bizarre trend towards no viewfinder- how are we supposed to take photos in bright sunshine then?

14°C, NW winds, 20 miles

---

Near dark sky, it's an oily blue-black up there. But, you know- twenty past nine...
Repotted a plant with a name like a drug; from the hibiscus family. The Acerecae has gold-glitter in the mud, what is that stuff? Looks like mica.
What is summer going to be like: this is farmland in Warwickshire, but it's early May!

15°C, heavy rain, dry now.

---

CDs: The Sparrow & The Crow: I'd swear I ordered this on LP.
The Rip: Portishead