I have a new smartphone. This one really is smart, where the previous one was pretty dumb. For one thing it has a much, much better camera. For another, it also has a front camera, so I can take selfies. Note to self, don’t frown with concentration when taking a selfie. It’s not a good look. Also, try to avoid taking it from below. I think a selfie stick would…
The worst bit about the flu was the cough, particularly at night. It wasn’t just that it kept me awake. About twice a night my diaphragm went into a complete panic, desperately trying to expel something from my lungs like a Britain First supporter faced with a perfectly nice neighbour who didn’t happen to be white. Every time it happened, I’d cough so long and hard that I’d lose peripheral…
Most people would say I’ve got the flu, but it feels as though the flu’s got me. I had two groups at the observatory on Tuesday. I woke up feeling pretty rough, but there was no chance of finding another guide in time, and little chance of telling people it was cancelled before they drove up, so I went. As usual, I got a burst of energy once I had…
Whew, what a week! On Monday I did the panoramic tour with the Saga Pearl (basically, “Lovely views and quite a few of them”). On Tuesday and Wednesday I worked at the Roque. The first group on Tuesday included a French couple who didn’t speak any English or Spanish. I think they expected to just look, but I felt I had to try, so my extremely rusty French got a…
I took a mini-break to stay at my friend Alison’s new B&B in the Caldera. It was marvelous. How could any writer now be inspired by a spot like this? Rivendell is a good name. It’s “a perfect house, whether you like food or sleep or story-telling or singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all.” And here’s the view: I arrived later than…
The lurgy’s doing better than I am. Well no, it’s not that bad in the cosmic scheme of things, but I’m tired and getting a lot less done. I did manage to wrangle chapter 40 into some sort of shape and now I’m struggling with chapter 41. These are very short chapters and it’s not supposed to take a whole week to edit one, or even rewrite it. This morning…