Apparently this run of abyssmal luck I've been having is the fault of the stars. (Of course it's not my fault, how dare you!) Here's what one astrologer has to say for Sagittarians this week:

Are you sitting comfortably? of course you're not. There is scarcely an archer alive who isn't either battling the boss, collecting their divorce papers or wandering around singing daft love songs -- or all three. Whatever's going on, the emotional temperature this week will rise as the Full Moon arrives in your sign on Tuesday and lines up with volcanic Pluto. Like the election, it's sure to get messy -- just try not to hit any fellow voters, especially ones you love.

I talked to Andrew today, who's also a Sag, and he's had an exciting week on the farm -- he caught someone trying to steal the diesel fuel they keep in a big tank for their tractors, and they've had an infestation of peacocks.

Back in the city -- after Thursday's carry-on, Friday started out relatively calmly. But I had a fraught night at work, and at one point completely lost my rag and threatened to leave. I really am thinking seriously about it, it's starting to look like an attractive option. Then there were a couple of late-breaking major stories -- the Tel Aviv bombing and the Nepali royal family massacre -- that had us working hard through the break and right up to the wire. Exciting, but tiring.

So I got off to a bit of a late start on Saturday, though I managed to get quite a lot done -- including potting up a couple of tomato plants I'm going to try growing on the "patio" -- before heading off to the races. The traffic was terrible, so I ended up missing the first race. Got a bet on for the second though, and met up with my friends (using our mobile phones as locating devices: "I'm by the yellow and black umbrella at the front of the stand.." "Yes, I can see Martin now..")

It rained. Three of my horses came last.

But it was lots of fun, wonderful atmosphere and worth the money I frittered away.

Martin and Heather invited Fiona and I back to their place for dinner -- and very sweetly invited Bertie too. I went back home to walk and water him, and reluctantly decided to leave him home. Perhaps I should have taken him, he was certainly peeved about being left at home again, after spending most of the day alone.

Anyway dinner was lovely. But when I left I discovered I'd left my car lights on and the battery was flat. Martin kindly fetched his car and jumper leads but that didn't work. The starter motor was jammed. So I called my rescue service, and after trying everything else the bloke gave me a bump-start by towing the car.

Bertie was thrilled when I arrived home at 1.30am, but later gave me what I took to be a coded message. He tore a newspaper to pieces in front of me, looking at me intently the whole time. Rip. Rip. Rip. Tiny little shreds.

Today I was looking forward to spending some quality time with him, but alas I had a call from my boss saying he'd hurt his foot badly and would I please come to work early. Siiiiiigh. It wasn't too bad though, only one page.

Tomorrow I collect my new computer but I won't have much time to play with it until my day off on Wednesday. I'm making no other plans for Wednesday. I'll need to recover from Tuesday's full moon, and Thursday is the election, I'll have to be calm for that.

The good news is that I only have this week and part of next week, and I'm off on holiday for two weeks. I had planned to go away for the second week, but staying home is increasingly tempting. Two weeks of lazing around, doing a spot of gardening now and again, going on dog-walking expeditions, maybe taking in some culture -- art exhibitions and such -- mmmm, that could be very good indeed. Maybe I could go away for just a couple of days. Or not.