2007 — 9 August: shops ahoy!
The mighty hunter-gatherer is just about ready to sally forth. "I've got my little list"... And back, after two hours, almost to the minute. Thank you, Shelagh! The only item beyond my grasp proved to be Her blessed pretzels, so once again it will be Waitrose to the rescue, which I shall be able to combine with a trip to the bank — blimey Mounce: thinking ahead, heh? — and Her next repeat prescription tomorrow morning.
Goodness me! Is it summer again already? It's blooming hot in the sun, that's for sure. We've just gently toddled to the bank and back, so now I guess I'd better pop the kettle on. Then we can think about picking up the Interflora delivery that has been left next door for us.
Pause, for the snooze that refreshes. Good grief, what clock? 5 o'clock?! Such clock!1
Hah! Did I just say it was hot in the sun? Not a patch on how hot it is in our loft, to which I was just despatched to fetch down our last remaining "body chair" — the design that puts load on the knees and straightens the spine. This She can sit on, and thus work, briefly at least, at her PC. Hooray!
Infinity and beyond
Good programme last night, I thought. Ferociously difficult to illustrate, of course, so lots of swirly abstract images... That's what I pay the licence fee for. I cut it to the same DVD-R that has the "Jackanory"2 story documentary on it. There's a puzzler for future diggers-up of unconsidered trifles (not that they'll be playable in the future, I suspect).
A Farewell to Alms
Title of what looks like a fascinating book by Gregory Clark, an economic historian at the University of California, Davis. There's a review here. Basically, he posits a theory for how and why the population of England broke out of the Malthusian trap whereby "each time new technology increased the efficiency of production a little, the population grew, the extra mouths ate up the surplus, and average income fell back to its former level." Sounds more than a little like one of the plotlines from my (I've just realised) long since discarded copy of George RR Martin's Tuf Voyaging.
A Good Day?
On balance, yes, a Good Day. Good Night!