2) It was a posh restaurant - posher than I would have chosen, but then I'm not as posh as The Ageds. It was a good meal and everyone enjoyed it. I went to get some drinks and ordered an orange juice and coke. "I've never heard of that combination before," the bar manager responded. "I have," interjected one of the waitresses. "It's called a muddy something or other". "Yes, muddy puddle" I clarified.

3) I don't know why I have such a large bread bin. It's big enough to store at least one and a half large loaves; I rarely have more than one small loaf of bread to store (and more usually have none at all). Maybe I will consider buying a smaller one in the New Year. What an exciting life I lead.

4) A customer asked for a small change to an application, explaining that it was "very urgent" and he wanted it by 6 January. When he was told that that wasn't possible, he responded "9 January will be fine". I think he missed the point. Apart from the fact that what he wants is a really silly idea*, if it is so important why wasn't it in the original set of requirements in August, or the list of amendments in October?

*he wants the ability to load the image of a pi-chart. My reaction (and that of everyone else I've spoken to about it) reaction is "wouldn't it be better to load the data and create the pi-chart".

5) I'm having chilli-potatoes tonight (last night). I'm a little concerned that I might have overdone the chilli. Dinner is ready now, I will soon find out.

6) No, not just potatoes. I have other stuff too.

7) "Tickets £8. Price includes programme and complimentary refreshments". If they're included in the price, they're not really complimentary, are they?

8) Breaking news last night was that the balcony at a London theatre had collapsed. This was later revised to "part of the roof". It now transpires that it was a small section of the plaster ceiling. Still not pleasant for those underneath, but not nearly as serious as first reported. In many ways this supports my criticism of 24-hour news and instant journalism ("We can't get any proper journalists there so we'll rely on a phone call with a Member of the Public"). Sometimes news organisations would do better to just shut up until the full facts emerge, rather than spread mass panic and hysteria.

9) Overheard comment from a shopper last week: "I was looking for fluffy slippers but can't find any masculine ones". That could be because 'masculine' and 'fluffy' are not generally compatible.

10) Day off today - my backup Christmas shopping day - but back at work Monday and Tuesday (morning) then that's it till New Year. As it is, I don't need the backup shopping but have spent the morning doing cleaning and expenses and stuff. I might go and buy a tree later.

11) The potatoes were OK - a little but over-spiced for the dish but not unbearably so