I have tried, once again, to fix my life by buying technology. A new car radio this time. This one will allow me to connect my MP3 player to it and also seems capable of receiving all radio stations all the time -- something that my older radio was incapable of doing. This will make my consumption of audio books in the car a more streamlined affair, and may even mean that I will finish listening to that stupid collection of French and Russian short stories.

I took this week off work, actually. It's half-term and we went to Connemara. I had thought it would be a week-long affair, but the people we were with had to return on Tuesday and in any event, one of their number was sick and wasn't enjoying himself much. So we returned early and visited Birr Castle on the way home. The last couple of days have contained some gentle organisation. I indulged in the dual pleasures of log splitting and paper shredding -- tidying up inside and out. We have a huge amount of firewood, but is too big for our fireplace. Chopping is therefore good fun and practical. And the best fifteen Euro I ever spent (on the axe).

The shredding is not so much fun, but the accumulation of a number of years worth of bank statements and payslips are now recyclable and the office space feels a little trimmer as a result. I don't like throwing bank details into the recycling without shredding but for a good while I tried to convince myself that I was being overly paranoid. Then one time I brought a whole load of papers and stuff to the local recycling collection point (before we had curbside collection) and as I drove away, I looked in the mirror to see one of the guys working there, go through it all. Honestly, I don't know if he was looking at it or just re-distributing it between the bins, but I don't feel so paranoid anymore.

I am sort of leaning towards the idea that this will be the year of water sports. I really like messing around with boats and Anna has a similar interest, so I thought we might join a local canoeing club. Or are they kayaks? Not sure, anyway, I like the idea of being able to noodle around rivers and lakes and as we had a really nice holiday on the barge last year, I'm thinking that when we go again it would be great if we had a canoe or two to explore the little channels and rivers.

This idea has merit but it also requires two things: gear and I have to learn to swim. It's been a thing to do for a while, but I've never really got to grips with the actual learning bit. I've thrashed around in the pool a bit, but never got lessons. I have my name down on the waiting list for the local leisure center, but it's a long one apparently, so I don't hold out much hope there.

I would like to follow through on this though. In  the summer, friends of ours are going camping on the island shown below. A canoe would be a great thing to have there.

Air/Sea rescue notwithstanding.