Thursday, October 18, 2007

Bookstalls and the mysteries of time

Got up this morning to find that Lord H had very sweetly downloaded the first episode of the new Oz Clarke and James May wine tour programme - I'd missed it on TV as I'd been too busy writing. Shock! Horror! Yes, that does occasionally happen. And aren't computer downloads a wonderful thing? - modern technology never ceases to amaze me. Anyway, the programme was great and I loved their mobile home and friendly bickering. The Odd Couple of the new millennium indeed! Must try to remember to watch next week's episode on real TV if I can.

Managed to bash out 500 words of The Bones of Summer this morning before nipping into Guildford to help Irene and Jackie run the Goldenford bookstall at the Guildford Institute - part of the fun of Book Festival Week. We had a lovely lunch (the Institute food is wonderful!), a great chat but unfortunately no actual custom. Sigh! Still, as we were packing up, a lady did pop over to tell us how much she'd loved The Moon's Complexion which cheered Irene greatly, and how shocked she'd been (in a humorous way!) at the rudeness of The Hit List which amused me greatly. Especially as Pink Champagne and Apple Juice and A Dangerous Man are probably both far ruder!

A really good thing about being in Guildford though was the fact that I was passing Superdrug when I saw that they were offering walk-in appointments for flu jabs at £9.95 a jab, so I rushed in and took up the offer (having been brutally turned down for the same by the wicked new doctor ...). Result! And it only took ten minutes, so here's hoping it works! Not only that but the nurse assured me that having a plaster on my arm meant that I definitely couldn't do any washing-up or ironing for at least a fortnight. I have yet to break this good news to Lord H of course ...

And whilst in town, I also bought a new watch (I lost mine yesterday somewhere on campus, but the strap had been wearing thin for a while, to be honest) for me and one for Lord H, as they were offering a second one half-price. And Lord H hasn't had a watch with a strap for months, so has been carrying it around in his pocket. Not the best of solutions to time. The bizarre thing is how much you really do rely on glancing at your wrist to work out where you are in the day, as until I'd bought it I felt quite adrift in the morning. I was also late to the bookstall (wicked me!), but that was only because I was buying a watch so I could work out what time it was so I wouldn't be late. Which is a circular sentence you could probably lose yourself in, but true.

Anyway, on the way out of town, the peculiarities continued apace. I'd validated my car park ticket and attempted to put it in the machine at the exit so the barrier would lift, but the moment I stuffed it in the slot, the damn thing started whirring and spewing out other people's tickets at me instead. I panicked, thinking oh God I'll be stuck in the car park for ever and doomed to wander about trying to find an alternative escape route until the end of time, so grabbed all the used tickets and dropped them in my car. As the machine paused to work out what I was doing, I pushed my own ticket back into the slot, the barrier raised and I sped off, taking a decent handful of the Council's used paperwork with me. No doubt they'll be knocking on my door later asking for their property back, but in the interests of the environment I have recycled it.

This afternoon, I popped in to see Gladys (at last!), who was confused as to when exactly I'd been on holiday and when I might be going again - perhaps she's desperate to get rid of me and actually quite enjoyed the last three weeks when I haven't been able to go? - but hey at least she's enjoying the weather. As indeed are we all. Back home, I've scribbled down another 500 words of The Bones of Summer, watched the daily show of "Strictly Come Dancing" and am planning to look at the last of "Who Do You Think You Are?" on TV later on.

Ooh, and talking of dancing, I had a nice chat with the tutor of the Beginners' Scottish Country Dancing adult education class earlier on, who has suggested I go for a taster session towards the end of October. Which I have decided to do. Well, I don't need a partner, and the tutor seemed to think it would be okay to join after everyone else has started, so I'm going to be brave. I like dancing (on the rare occasions I do it), and it might even be fun! Maybe I should buy a kilt? Hmm, not sure I have the knees for it though ...

Today's nice things:

1. The Goldenford stall
2. TV
3. Finding I can still write something - sort of!

Anne Brooke
Anne's website

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