Today was spent up at the lake working on boats. There weren’t enough cadets to warrent sailing boats, so it was a lazier day running the Viking motorboat and letting cadets use the canoe that normally gets used for getting out to the buoy the Viking is moored to. We also brought in the ASC to check in its cover. It’s done its job remarkably well, keeping Seagull poo out of the insides, as well as shielding any water that has leaked in from the sun so that slime and algae doesn’t appear in it. Consequently the boat’s interior looks like it was renovated yesterday rather than at the beginning of the season. So that means that that is one less boat needing work doing to it for a change. Next year will see all our efforts able to be channelled into getting boats on the water earlier in the season and getting more boats renovated for use.

Zoë recorded the Italian grand prix for me whilst I was out, so I had the luxurious task of watching that on my return. It was quite pleasent downing a few beers whilst it was on. I rarely drink beers these days, except when a grand prix is on. I could not believe that Hamilton threw it all away on the final lap. What was he thinking of? I bet he is gutted tonight.

Zoë’s birthday present arrived on Saturday. I’ve got her Guitar hero 5 – don’t worry; she knows all about it already. She is hooked on the Rock Band/Guitar hero franchises, and we have studiously been buying them on the venerable PS2 since Guitar hero one was out. So far all keep coming out for the PS2, with the exception of the Beatles one, so we have no desire to change the console (at any rate, we have a Wii but aren’t in the mood to buy duplicate instruments for it). The PS2 is the console that just keeps on giving – I really like it. That’s a lot more than I could say for the PS3 which is an overpriced lump of crap. If we did buy another console eventually, I suspect it would be the Xbox 360. That won’t be for a while yet though.

Tomorrow is a busy day. I have a lot of agents to approach, but as they are mostly all still stuck in the past, they won’t accept emails. So that means I need to get a new toner cartridge for the laser printer. I’m going to be printing a lot of pages, so it makes sense compared to taxing Zoë’s inkjet. I also have cheques and cash to pay in from the sale of some childhood toys. My Father and I have been disposing some of the duplicates from our old Horby Dublo collection. Last week I finally finished the negotiations on the sale of three locomotives. Who would have thought that these three small items could liberate a full £440! I was going to put my half towards a sailing boat, but a bidding war broke out at the last minute on ebay and it went for silly money. That seems to happen far too often; I suspect shill bidding. Call me a cynic, because I am.