omputer breakdown!

Holiday is over, and home is hotter than where I went on vacation, but also infinitely more humid too, and why don't they have air-conditioning in subway stations here like they do in Spain? But it's okay, everyone's on strike, there's no day care, and I don't even get a day off for the Gipper.

Taking care of baby significantly inhibiting Yankees watching.

Grenada: glass of chilled local lager and a plate of fresh grilled prawns, or stewed pork belly, or setas with mixed offal - two dollars. Philadelphia airport: "Special today is beef sandwich and a beer, ten bucks."

No decent diner anywhere near my office.

Lunch - a Cuban sandwich with no pickle. Blah.

That's must be driving you razy, but it's also quite omical.

I clicked on a link that took me to msn.com. Damn Microhard not only hijacked my browser's home page, it wiped out all my cookies.


Shouldn't that be illegal?

Spanish blue cheese.

Queso Picon?

I like blue cheeses in general. To my rough and ready tastes, Stilton is a favourite. But Spanish blues can also be sublime if the balance is right.

Someone eating my crumb cake.

GF has been out of commission for several weeks with a misaligned hip, causing her great pain when she sits or stands still. Physical therapy has been helping but it's a slow process. Since she lives in NJ and I don't have a car, we haven't seen much of each other lately.

Public trans! I live in NJ and can assist. In the cause of love, but of course!

Who needs sunshine, when you have high temperatures and humidity?

Any mail from the courts. They all annoy.

A slow cashier in the supermarket's express lane. A slow cashier getting change, counting it while we wait. A slow cashier cracking open coin rolls. People waiting until asked to search for their money or credit card.

The IRS. Don't get me started.

Felt like offal last night. Bought some pigs kidneys from Sainsburys, was going to make a sichuan dish. Started preparing the kidneys, noticed a familar smell. "Oh they wouldn't be selling kidneys from intact male pigs would they? They wouldn't be that stupid". Smelt the kidneys, very strong stink of boar taint, utterly revolting. What type of second rate store sells male pork kidneys? Spent five minutes washing my hands with soap and toothpaste to remove the stink. No luck, hands still smelt after all that.

Coffee through the nose!

Well, where to start, really? One of those days when I can't pick up anything sharp without cutting myself, or anything liquid without spilling it, or put down my glasses without losing them, or anything delicate without it landing in a puddle of something already spilt.

Bah.

Learning curve for new laptop computer.

So, if eating male piggy better make it baby piggy?

If I wish to improve my liver function should I see my butcher?

Annoyed by the weather on Sunday, which meant that by the time Chas & Dave arrived on stage everyone was a) cold & wet.

Put up with 4 songs before repairing to the William the fourth where it transpired that 'Banjo Les' was unable to entertain due the mysterious non-appearance of his keyboard player.

More Rabbit than Sainsbury's. Indeed.

Not winning what I want on e-bay. Usually for stupid reasons, like forgetting about the end of auction, or getting distracted by fiddling in the kitchen, or fetching the cat from the garden, or falling asleep, or not being near a computer, or some other such important activity

v

Accidentally throwing away the seat reservation part of my train ticket to Leeds on the 17th and being unable to retrieve it from the wheelie bin the next day

v

Not winning the $170 million Megabucks. Wish me luck on $200 million. If I win, I'm buying.

Waking up every morning thinking, today I start the diet. Going to sleep every night stuffed to the gills.

Speaking of things you're unlikely to hear in America:

This is so annoying that it must be here somewhere. "Quick polls" It seems every media entity now has a daily one. Utterly stupid. As if THE people knew ThE answer to THE things they ask.

Having to actually buy a new ticket to Leeds (see above)

v

Saying something stupid which you regret almost immediately but you can't apologize for right away.

Utterly destroyed the smallest of my three moka pots yesterday. I simply filled it up, set it to boil, erased it from my memory, and went to languish in a hot tub. Imagine my surprise when, for the first time ever, the smoke alarm went off. I had begun to think this alarm would react to nothing - a welcome change from previous alarms which were sensitive to boiling water. But an apartment full of thick smoke from melted plastic did the trick. The poor little pot had lost not only its plastic handle but even the little plastic knob on the lid; all changed to thick, black smog. Fortunately the pot was of a size to make a single espresso, so the exploding coffee didn't make an extensive mess. It took a lot of airing to get the smell out of the apartment.

I am beginning to wonder whether life with a ten second memory span may prove more difficult than I'd imagined.

Far too busy to post anything today.


Oops.

My apartment is ready to be painted, i.e., all the pictures are off the walls, the furniture is in the center of the room and don't even ask about the kitchen. Where is the painter?