Devenish

After a colder- and wetter than average Japanese winter, Sean, Julian and I left early last Wednesday morning bound for 10 days in N. Ireland via Seoul and London. Just in time: we might have enjoyed Spring had we stayed a day or two. Instead, we arrived in the UK just before a cold front brought snow drifts, powercuts and general misery to all parts of Britain and Ireland, especially the North West! Brilliant timing... Four days in, and it's still hovering around 0 with dead skies. Just as well I'm back in a country that accepts all this disruption with only slightly more than average grumbling: indeed, it's a great opportunity — for "a really good whinge", something that would be completely lost on the inhabitants of my adoptive country.

If you drink, don't drill . Similar advice applies to listening to Scott Walker 3,  when feeling depressed: http://lyrics.wikia.com/Scott_Walker:Rosemary That's what I want A new shot at life But my coat's too thin My feet won't fly And I watch the wind and I see another dream blowin' by Rosemary, Scott Walker 3. No matter that Spring has finally come, there's something devastating about turning fifty-one: fifty at least had some symmetry and sense of achievement about it... And again...