h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

... and I have to go out in it later.

I'm going to see Peet at Noon. I'll go via. Old Aberdeen (i.e., the Uni) to get my cheap student Saturday newspapers - the Telegraph, the Guardian and the Independent, plus the Spectator: £2.65 with a student card.

Saturday is newspapers day. I love the Saturday papers - especially the review sections. My ideal Saturday evening involves a pile of papers, a bottle of wine, an Indian take-away and a French Grand Opera from the Met (ideally Massenet: Werther, for example). Susan would probably go along with me for three-fourths of the list, and Werther has enough tunes in it to keep her from grumbling too much about the fourth.

I'll go in by the Old Aberdeen Bookshop on my way to Peet's. I'm thinking about picking up an Iris Murdoch or two, on recommendation from Dagesh.

This will be quite a swim, and I hope Peet will have some decent coffee in stock. I've just taken delivery of a 1kg bag of Fair Trade organic espresso roast from Sue's shop. I get through one of these bags every six weeks or so, generally in the form of two strong and steaming perfect espressos in the morning - I have a Gaggia machine, a leaving present from my old job. I opened the bag this morning and tumbled out a handful of deep deep brown coffee beans, aromatic and glistening with oil. I ate a couple there and then. Sometimes I grind a star anise with the coffee beans to give a pungent aniseed brew. Ah luv mah cowfee.

Douglas (starting to trip out/needs his fix)

PS. I took the proferred advice yesterday, and gave Sue a hot water bottle and extra bedsheet last night. All windows are closed.

I am glad that Sue has had her first really warm night's sleep.
I am envious about the coffee. Since we switched to Nespresso, after the initial raptures, I find that I miss the old Colombian half a litre I used to imbibe of a morning and the withdrawal symptoms have not gone.
Funny to think of you and Peet, nobly disregarding weather conditions, going about your business and pleasures in the streets of Aberdeen. Give Peet a dry peck from me.

Or rather, don't.

I gave him a pink sticky bun instead (and as Freud observed, sometimes a pink sticky bun is just a pink sticky bun)

Douglas