test please delete

[NickFitz]

Off to the pub later. Makes a change, though then again, I was already in a pub this time last week for mudskipper's party

[NickFitz]

Bowl of scouse for tea. Very, very nice

[NickFitz]

Off to the pub later. Makes a change, though then again, I was already in a pub this time last week for mudskipper's party

And home again after a pleasant evening, though not as glamorous as last week's gathering. Also, I had to make do with salted peanuts rather than the truly excellent sausages (among other very fine foodstuffs) at mudskipper's buffet. But still, a good night out

The downstairs neighbour is playing his music much louder than normal and, when I popped out the back to check the gate to the cars was locked (it was, which makes a nice change), I saw through the back window (it's right by the back door, I wasn't snooping, I literally can't miss it) that his kitchen was empty apart from some cleaning materials. So I presume he's moving out, and I'll have no downstairs neighbour for a little while.

As it happens, the place is well soundproofed, so it doesn't matter much. But he was quiet and considerate enough, and there's always the risk of getting an utter arsehole next, so on that basis I'll be moderately sad to see him go

Still, I survived through flats 1, 2, and 4 being occupied by the chaps who got sent down for kidnap and torture about ten years ago (having never been caught for the cannabis farm in flat 2), and after something like that that you don't really worry too much about one flat's worth of new neighbour

[NickFitz]

After-pub entertainment (other than listening to downstair's music, which finally stopped an hour or so ago) started out with The Poseidon Adventure. But the first few minutes involved a model of what was supposed to be the most advanced ocean liner ever created that looked like a troopship bound for Singapore in 1941, and then Gene Hackman overacted more in twelve lines of dialogue than most pantomime dames manage in several decades of rep, and I just couldn't.

So I turned instead to The Odessa File (1974). I've definitely seen this before, though not for many years, and I'd also read the book before I saw it as my Dad had it - one of those he acquired when he was studying what made a successful thriller before writing them himself. (He's always been all about thorough research, whether meta like studying a kind of writing, or contextual like the stuff that made many think he must have been a Spitfire pilot to describe flying one so well in Early Warning, though he was actually a schoolboy during the war.) (And yes, the title has changed now he's republished it, but I still think of it as having the title under which Hodder & Stoughton published it.)

Anyway, The Odessa File is a bit clunky in parts. I doubt anybody could get an electronic guided missile system working in a few months - even with analogue technology - as the plot seems to demand, though Zeity would have a better idea of that; but in those days, novelists could get away with that kind of bulltulip because hardly anybody else knew better either. If one overlooks that stuff, then it's very good really. In particular, the ending plays very well even when you already know the twist that makes it all make sense, and that's a hard thing to pull off; but they manage it here.

And kudos for featuring what I'm pretty sure was an Original Heidelberg 18"×15" platen, which is the finest mechanical letterpress machine ever, and also the only non-manual press I've ever operated - we had one in the school press

Goodnight all

[NickFitz]

Afternoon denizens

Grey day here

[DaveB]

Don't look at mine, it's in a right state

As it turned out it was relatively painless.

1st place we tried had a display set up in a room almost the same size as our bathroom and was pretty much exactly what we wanted. We tried a couple of other paces but saw noting we liked or that inspired us so went back. The biggest faff was waiting for the only sales guy there to finish dealing with another couple who were finalising an order, so we went to the pub to wait for a bit instead.

Coming out Thursday to measure up and check requirements but the initial estimate is well in budget. I'll call that a win.

[NickFitz]

As it turned out it was relatively painless.

1st place we tried had a display set up in a room almost the same size as our bathroom and was pretty much exactly what we wanted. We tried a couple of other paces but saw noting we liked or that inspired us so went back. The biggest faff was waiting for the only sales guy there to finish dealing with another couple who were finalising an order, so we went to the pub to wait for a bit instead.

Coming out Thursday to measure up and check requirements but the initial estimate is well in budget. I'll call that a win.

Drunk bathroom purchase. What could possibly go wrong?

[adubya]

Was going to head off for a bike ride but ended up writing unit test cases for my Alexa skills

[BR14]

Morning all

3 hours into a working invoicing day. Nice sunrise over Portland Bill and some high level clouds coming in over the Cobb

Drunk bathroom purchase. What could possibly go wrong?

Avocado

[NickFitz]

Avocado