Not so very tired today, due to getting to bed early last night -- I wasn't working, you see.

Today was great, lots of things fell into place. The insurance, for a start -- a woman phoned from the inspection firm, completely confused because she'd received my second letter, the correction, but not the original letter, which I'd parcelled up with pieces of flooring and beading and whatnot. She went away and tracked down the parcel, then got right back to me and said that was fine, she'd phone the insurance firm and they'd send me a cheque for the difference. Hurrah!

Also, because I was feeling so chipper this morning, I put on my trackies and checked out the gym. The local one is based at the high school and only opens in the evenings, but the one in a nearby village is open all day. It's right across the road from the Drambuie distillery, and it looks like they fund it -- it's called the Drambuie Leisure Centre. I love the way they call gyms leisure centres -- to me, leisure involves lying down on the sofa with a remote control or a book, not pressing weights. The building was quite impressive from the outside -- it's got basketball and badminton courts as well -- but the gym itself is tiny & jammed with equipment. Not a problem -- I was the only person there most of my session.

I managed to get my computer limping along well enough to back up my files, and at the weekend I'll reformat the hard drive and reinstall everything. A drag, but it speeds things up, and once you start getting the Blue Screen of Death it's the most straightforward cure.

I phoned Fiona and set a date for lunch in March -- we are such busy busy people.

Last night Anthea and I went to see Traffic, film about drug trafficking with Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas. I liked it except for the ending, which was too happy-ever-after for my liking. I think the sulky teenager should have died blue-faced on a toilet floor, that would have had more impact -- as it is, the message seems to be you can be addicted to heroin and still keep your good looks, and what's more your father will spend more quality time with you.

Also, I picked up a brochure for the marina sailing school and noted a couple of weekend courses I'd like to do -- one is dinghy cruising, that's in July, and another is an improver's course, which I'd like to do at the beginning of the season. They both sound like fun, the emphasis is on getting out in boats and sailing as much as possible. I'm going to book for both of them.

Paul and Joe had another boy with them today, Scott, and it looks like they'll finish everything today. They might have to come back and do some final finishing touches but are hoping to get it all done. Whew. The french doors don't look great, not a good choice I think. They have much thicker frames than the old steel ones, so they don't let in as much light. Maybe I should have gone for a sliding door. Oh well, too late now.