BurbleChaz

To those of you who read this, and happen to have a birthday today, Happy Birthday!

As I mentioned yesterday, there are signs of Antipodean Lurgy in some quarters. My immune system took one look at the unfamiliar virus and went 'Oooh look - new friends - can I play with them?', and then proceeded to crush its new playmates to death. Others were not so fortunate, and spent the day with a bit of fever. Sorry, allow me to clarify. Spent the day with the worst fever ever, peaking at around 80C, and still went to work. Apparently, 'You Men Are All Wimps', or something.

Our bank cards arrived in the post today, so we strolled down to the bank at lunchtime to get them activated and to set up internet banking. Mostly, this went smoothly. The Lurgy Victim spent about twenty minutes on the phone to a call center located on one of the moons of Saturn, trying to get them to do something other than transfer her back to Bangalore again. Stress, fever and unhappiness were present in full measure. I picked up the phone, and had the card activated in about 30 seconds. Either I am unnaturally lucky, or victim of a hugely sophisticated scam.

After banking, it was time to grab some lunch. We were on our way to a generic chain sandwich shop, when we passed a pie shop. Sensible People had one filled with chicken and leek. I had a Spud Delux - beef, mash and cheese. The pastry they make is a thing of joy and beauty. It's like an aerogel made of butter. The energy content is about the same as rocket fuel. You can probably get fat just reading a description of it.

I didn't go to the gym. I went shopping instead. Then we went to the pub. Pies, idleness, food and beer. Probably not a good long-term plan.

Sometimes, one needs comfort food. We made a stew. There was some confusion at the supermarket checkout over a swede. The operator had never seen one before, and his colleague on another till had only seen the word written. I felt like the middle one of the three monkeys.

Now we have bank accounts, the Phone Geek wants us to get phones tomorrow. This is an excellent plan. Unfortunately, it means I am expected to have opinions about handsets. Of the last four handsets I have bought, three were on the recommendation of the Phone Geek, and one turned out to be a bad mistake. With this history, I really think my opinions should either be discarded, or used purely as a contraindication. As far as I can tell, you have eleven options with mobiles: You get a PDA like a blackberry, or a large-screen phone like my current Nokia 6680. Otherwise, you choose your phone by opening method (slide, clamshell, keypad on front) and colour (black, silver, hot pink). Beyond that, handsets are indistinguishable. A new SIM for my 6680 would do me fine. It may be a crap phone, but it's my crap phone.

Our office is on the 27th floor, and has carpet to ceiling windows. This afternoon there was an astonishing rainbow over the city. The Serious Photographer reached for her camera. The locals were not impressed. Apparently, epic rainbows aren't unusual here. That implies clear skies, bright sunshine and torrential rain are common. Is this a good thing?

Still no hat, but no serious sunshine either. Tomorrow, the weekend begins. There are plans involving bicycles, yacht clubs and forests. One out of three would be a success.

Happy Birthday! Go HobbyHorse!