They were also giving away free chocolate bars in the canteen (there was a choice between chocolate bar and fruit, but no one's going to choose fruit, are they?). OK, there's no such thing as a free lunch - or even a free chocolate bar. You had to fill in a survey first. So I did - giving lots of helpful suggestions such as "napkins are difficult to extract from the dispenser" and "stop putting fruit in the cooler".

Then I found the work parking pass that I lost several weeks ago and had to get a replacement. It had fallen down beside the seat, but was too well hidden for me to see when I originally looked. Or maybe I just didn't look very well. It could have been the near-emergency stop I did that caused it to emerge from its hiding place.

And finally, on my way home, the Red Arrows flew overhead. More coincidentally, they had just been mentioned on the news, in a report about the D-Day celebrations in Portsmouth ("A rather pointless and dreary place not worth visiting - avoid at all costs" according to urbandictionary.com). Of course I'd have recognised them even if they hadn't been mentioned on the news.

In other news, the Queen's Speech this week announced that the government intends to introduce a five-penny charge on carrier bags. Not so long back (well, I can still remember it, so it can't have been that long ago) supermarkets charged two pence for a bag. What goes around comes around. (Two pence in 1982 is equivalent to six pence today. Carrier bags are beating inflation). I bought a bag for life today. If I use it sixteen times, it will be worth it (actually fewer that sixteen times as it holds more than your average supermarket carrier bag). What happened to the days when supermarkets provided cardboard boxes (or cat traps, as I like to call them).

Playing around with algebra this afternoon and I remembered this proof that 1 = 0

a = b

a - a = b - a

(a - a) / (b - a) = (b - a) / (b - a)

0 = 1

Obviously there is a schoolboy error in there, as any fule kno that 0 does not equal 1 - except for very high values of 0.

I also got confused with days of the week on Monday. I was visiting a SJA unit where I am going again, for a different reason and on a different day of the week, in the near future. As I left I said "see you Monday week."
"No," it was pointed out: "you mean Wednesday."
"Do I? What day is it today?"
"Monday"
"Oh. I thought it was Wednesday"
Maybe I was confused by the day printed on my socks: one of which said Tuesday; the other Thursday.

I watched, for the first time, "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" over the weekend. I was hoping he would get busted as he was an arrogant sod. No idea why his sister decided to cover for him at the end.

In one of those rare coincidences that happen only when you notice them, Monday morning radio played a song from the film. His sister was played by the actress who played the ugly one in that rubbish film (you know the one I mean) and by another coincidence, a song from that film was played on Tuesday morning radio.

We were almost thwarted in our attempts to go for a bike ride at the weekend. First problem was that the valve burst while I was pumping up my tyre. However, our route took us past Halfords (which some people think is a bike store) so I pushed my bike there and bought and fitted a new tube - much to the interest of a toddler who was passing by (with his parents). They went into the store as I was taking the old tube out, and came back out as I was fitting the wheel back into the frame. "Thank you for your help," I said to the toddler, "I couldn't have done it without you".

Next problem was that CGF Sprog 3's chain split. CGF took that bike back to Halfords for repair, and CGF Sprog 3 and I continued on a shorter ride. I also got temporarily confused by my gears, accidentally moving into 7th for a hill (upwards) and wondering why it was so much effort. "I'd laugh but I'm saving my energy for the hill" was CGF Spog 3's reaction.

I want to find a new 50 pence piece - they don't seem to be very common. I'm trying to arrange my shopping so that I will get at least 50p in change. Tonight I failed marginally; I got 49p in change. The reason I want a new 50p pence isn't very interesting, by the way. It's for a post on another blog that I moonlight on from time to time.