pity the parents

a chance glance at the Western Morning News headline in the Co-op this evening saw me recognise the name of a student I used to work with when I was a TA. Fatally stabbed at the weekend, Trev gave me a nod just the other day as he drove past, and lived literally just around the corner. He was only 21; the suspect's his 16 year-old girlfriend.

ow ow ow

Clearly, I am not naturally suited to manual labour... a day on my hands and knees hand-sanding victorian floor tiles, and I feel as if I've just done ten rounds with Mr float-like-a-butterfly Ali. Big up and big respect to all the real workers out there. I salute you (that is, I would if I could actually raise my arm...)

hamster health check

Our resident rodent, Bun, isn't suffering from vitamin deficiency, mange, or pet alopecia afterall. Phew. Turns out, the unsightly bald patch just behind his right ear is the result of tufts of fur becoming caught in his exercise wheel. Some judicious application of masking tape later, and hey-ho, problem solved! If only all the other things currently going haywire round here were so easily fixed (sigh).

why me?

...and of course there's always the ongoing saga of vehicle dystopia.
me lovely little camper boiled dry 2 wks ago (sob, sob) resulting in a cracked cylinder head, and an estimated repair bill of £1025. Crap, rip-off garage still hasn't fixed it, although after a week of suffering the vagaries of public transport (including being on a bus that broke down) and cycling in this lovely rain we've been having lately, I was lent a courtesy car. Well, yesterday, somewhere between Hayle and Pz en route to the kids dental check-ups, the exhaust fell off!
Is it something I did in a former life, or what?