2007 — 16 December: Sunday already
Happy birthday, Christa!
This is one of those "it's actually still the previous day, but well after midnight so maybe it's tomorrow" entries. Time is 01:12 and my adrenalin level is finally calming down an hour or so after the first sat-nav-assisted motorway trip. This is all very new to me, people! And don't people drive quickly? I don't know about the dawn coming up like thunder,1 but hazards certainly appear in your rear view mirror at the droop of an eyelid.
More to come, but probably not before the Pepperbox hill walk adventure...
It's a brand new day
Sorry to have to cut and run, Roger, but at least I can now drive over to say "Hi" without having to sort out a co-pilot. OK, it's 08:42 — let the birthday fun begin! Having just knocked the final "e" off "adrenalin" above, I now see that Christa's Concise Oxford gives both. Typical! In fact there was a lovely piece in yesterday's Guardian (From albedo to zugunruhe):
The point at which a man starts finding discrepancies in dictionaries is probably the point at which he should go for a long holiday to a place that is sleazy and restoring.
And, talking of discrepancies, I've referred previously to the startling erudition of my readers. When I idly wondered — here — about what I had thought was the single admitted technical error in the film 2001, I really should have known better. And, having read the page2 here I do! Thank you, Geoff. It's always a mistake to quote the original author from memory, I suppose.
Pepperbox?
Well, it was cold, rather dull, and I managed to clobber a bit of the front underneath the bumper on the steep entrance road (dirt track) to the car park from which we set off on the "hill walk". But we got there OK, and back safely. The sat nav takes quite a lot of anxiety away, though some of the motorway drivers promptly add a new set of concerns. With practice, I hope, will come greater confidence.
Now I'm once more on my own; Junior should be back in his flat by now, but will be flying out to a Thailand Christmas in three days or so. I hope to see him in early January. And the recipe for next week, Mr M? Steady bits of driving practice, I guess, plus some provisions and maybe even a spot of gift shopping. I must say it's a relief to have the driving test behind me, but it's also now removed one usefully distracting focus of concentrated activity. I wonder what will take its place? One day at a time, David, one day at a time!