I can't quite work it out, but I talked myself into buying a new camera. I'm now refreshing the DHL tracking page and twitching every time it doesn't change. The camera has made it from France to England, so I could get it tomorrow. Oh look, it's left England, so I really could get it tomorrow! Cool. I shall have to wait.

I recently had to send a parcel registered post. That's where you have to sign when you get it. Recorded delivery, I guess you'd call it. I don't have to go to the post office very often, but when I do it strikes me that they're one of the few institutions left that shut for lunch. We had this small conversation when in France about this. Everything there shuts from twelve to two. Except places to eat, of course. This is a simplification, but bear with me for a moment. Anyway, Sally was all for this saying that, you know, people deserve their lunch hours and so on, and I agree, they do. But what do they do during their lunch hours? If you want to do something other than eat, you can't. So when do people shop for food and stamps and food stamps and things? I know we're spoiled in Ireland with the always open all the time deal. Our local shop in a village of maybe eight hundred inhabitants is open 9am to 9pm every day except Sunday when he closes from 2pm 'till 6pm. There are two twenty four hour supermarkets within ten minutes of us. Mad.

So I'm all for people, you know, not working. I guess if you know the routine, it's easier. The time thing was something we kept tripping over while we were away, but if we'd just thought about it a bit we'd've been fine and Anna could have done all the clothes shopping she wanted to do.

It's one of those creeping, insidious things. People have to do horrible shifts just so you can pickup crisps and cigarettes at three in the morning. You really could do without this convenience but once one retailer offers it, they all have to. 'Tis the free market, you know.

I'm such a sheep. I've grown tired of pulling out my phone every time I want to see what time it is, and although I have proudly resisted wearing a watch for about ten years, I bought one. Here it is. Why am I a sheep? I bought this one because of Kevin Kelly. He may be right, and indeed, I don't get the expensive watch thing either, but I'm very impressionable, really.

I discovered since purchasing it that I'm out of practice in reading a watch. All the clocks I used up until recently were digital. I had lost the ability to read the time! I have regained it, thankfully. It is like riding a bike I guess. I have also learned that Sally loathes it when I wear it. I haven't quite got to the bottom of why, but I suspect it's largely aesthetic.

She'll have to live with it. Most of the time, anyway.