Journal Entries
WL Sun 25 Dec 2005
Posted Jan 2, 2006
Christmas-present giving was not the climax it should have been; P and S-J felt that they had to let E have her presents /before/ lunch. My alphabet toy was much appreciated. P found what I had not noticed in the shop: there is a Bb key in place of the Dd key! (The "dog" sticker on the key is correct, though.)
Among my presents is an Archers wall calendar! Somebody has taken the hint! 
Discuss this Journal entry [1]
Latest reply: Jan 2, 2006
WL 23 Dec 2005
Posted Jan 2, 2006
To Mum's. I wore my blue nylon skirt.
I took the early coach. The coach was full and I took the last available seat: the one that nobody else wanted: the one in the back row facing right down the aisle. Fortunately the journey was a safe one! The coach out of London was, as expected, less crowded.
In the city centre, the first stop was a vintage clothes shop. I arrived at 3:20. Just as well that I went there first. The owner was about to shut up shop for Christmas! She had no skirts of the sort I was after, though. I browsed a part of the city where there are some nice clothes shops... or were. Some remain but some are gone, now.
In WHS I found Talk to the Hand! I took this and a pack of WHS adhesive (white stuff like Blu-tac, which Mum had asked me to buy) to the cash desk in the book department. To pay for the book, I handed over the £10 book token I had intended for S-J. The cashier insisted in giving my change in the form of a WHS gift card. At least I could pay for the tack with the gift card, leaving a relatively trivial £1.02 on that gift card. (How complex!)
Discuss this Journal entry [1]
Latest reply: Jan 2, 2006
WL Thu 22 Dec
Posted Jan 2, 2006
Christmas falls at an awkward place in the week this year: on a Sunday, meaning that a weekend is immediately followed by the two bank holidays. I thus elect to travel to the family Christmas on Fri 23, thus avoiding what will surely be a crowded Christmas Eve travelling, and return on Wed 28, the day after the bank holidays, thus (I hope) giving opportunity to shop en route. Mum hosts us this year.
It was thus today that I booked my coach tickets to London (it is not necessary to book for the latter leg because the service oversupplies to an absurd extent) and bought presents (other than E's; see the 19th).
Mum's present was easy: Life in the Undergrowth. She never minds the TV tie-in books I get her for Christmas, and she likes nature programmes. I bought it in Waterstone's, where I also found, for P, This Book, a trivia book which is a sequel to That Book. I was embarrassed at the cash desk because, when I went to get the book tokens I'd carefully put in my wallet earlier today, I found that they were WHSmith tokens! Too late to change my mind now, though! Rats. I still retain lots of not-easily-fungible WHS tokens.
For M (S-J's mother): Cadbury's Milk Tray. Last night I had rung P for ideas for S-J and M. S-J answered, but at least she was able to tell me that her mother appreciates chocolates, but they must be plain. She also mentioned Cadbury's: I presume to discreetly ensure that I bought exactly the right sort.
Language note: why are some manufacturers calling plain chocolate "dark chocolate" nowadays?
This left S-J. Then I recalled that at Christmas 2003 two of us received Lynne Truss's Eats, Shoots and Leaves, one of those being S-J, who appreciated it. For this Christmas Lynne Truss has churned out another book: Talk to the Hand, a rant about impoliteness. *Now* to funge some WHS tokens! Wouldn't you know it: the local WHS has sold out! To cut a long complex story short, I bought a £10 book token from the library! Fancy the lending library selling something that shops don't sell!
Back home to wrap all this and start packing. Problem: what skirts to pack? I recalled an earlier occasion when I found that the back of one of my rayon skirts had got covered in cat hairs. Therefore, pack a skirt that I don't mind getting worse. Also the purple velour for best for Christmas lunch (for which we dress up). Also leggings just in case, or for stepladder work such as putting decorations up. Also tights; I will need to be out in cold weather.
I put up one strand of tinsel and hung up 9 cards on a string at the lounge window, but had no time to do any more Christmas decorating before it got late enough for bed.
Discuss this Journal entry [1]
Latest reply: Jan 2, 2006
WL Mon 19 Dec 2005
Posted Jan 2, 2006
In Fun Junction I spotted a toy which would be great for E's Christmas present. She is 5, and is just starting to learn her alphabet and to read. It is a battery-operated thing with a keyboard with a key for each letter (and a few more keys), and a dial to turn to select any of 8 games that help with the alphabet.
It's not always that I get an idea for a present so easily. One down...
Discuss this Journal entry [1]
Latest reply: Jan 2, 2006
WL Th 15 Dec 2005
Posted Dec 19, 2005
The pressure's off for a while w.r.t. my Word/Excel project. I've submitted the project documentation as it stands so far for a review. For this I've planned and documented the look-and-feel and in broad terms how I plan it to work. Now to see if I can get the whole thing done in time and still fit Xmas in. Let's also hope it works! The timing's awkward. The deadline's the 6th of Jan.
Time to relax a bit. 
Discuss this Journal entry [2]
Latest reply: Dec 19, 2005
Word-Lover
Researcher U1160777
Write an Entry
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a wholly remarkable book. It has been compiled and recompiled many times and under many different editorships. It contains contributions from countless numbers of travellers and researchers."