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

Mrs G and I are off to Italy on Saturday, with our friend P. We'll be coming home on Tuesday. P has a house in the mountains near Pisa, so we'll fly to Pisa, hire a car and drive up to his place. It'll be the first time he's been there this year, so we'll have to turn on the water and make sure everything is working.

Last time we did this, there were 14 separate leaks in the water system due to ice over the winter. Since then he has always drained all the water before leaving the house in the autumn, so there shouldn't be any problems.

The forecast is for 18° on Saturday which is 14° hotter than it is here in Ireland. Looking forward to sitting on his patio in the morning sun, drinking coffee and admiring the snow on the high mountains. Then in the evenings there'll be plenty of meals in local restaurants and wine.

In other news, daughter El had her last lecture of university yesterday. Now she has about two months of assignments, dissertations and a few exams, then she should have her degree. Meanwhile daughter Iz is tooling up for her Leaving Certificate exam, the exam at the end of secondary school. She's under a lot of pressure, but has been offered a place in one of the premier art colleges as long as she scrapes through the exam, so she has that to fall back on if she doesn't get the points for the course she wants.

I'm not fully familiar with the British system, but I believe the best you can get, an A at A level, is the equivalent of 150 points. She needs about 530 points, so it is the equivalent of nearly four As at A level.

Buon viaggio.

Congratulations on your brilliant girls. Where does E go from here?

El plans to take a year off. If she can get some part-time music-related jobs, that will be good. Then she'll decide whether to do a Master's degree or not next year.

An excellent time to get friendly with the viola da gamba.

That's if she doesn't mind spending time with you.

B

But of course!