:: ch-ch-ch-changes

Well I'm trying to make changes. I'm checking out two ISPs at the moment and it's incredibly frustrating: one in Glasgow is enticing as regards prices etc, but its "customer services" department seems to be one bloke with a very poor memory. "Hockadilly? Ohhhh, riiiight, I completely forgot to call you. I'll make a note right now on Outlook to call you back." "Can't you set it all up now?" "No, I have to waffle waffle waffle, website, waffle waffle, but I'll call you at 2pm on the dot, though, promise."

Yeah, right. No call. And tonight I tried sending myself email from work to test the webmail and they bounced, all of them. Sigh. A deal-breaker.

The other crowd was doing well despite its crappy webmail (no folders! no address book!) until I hit a brick wall trying to upload files to my FREE 100Mb webspace. Tonight I finally emailed them about it and was told it should be working ok. So I'll give that another go and see. If it works, they're in and the Weegie deadbeats are out. I'm desperate for a new home! To add to the sense of urgency, I'm being deluged by junk mail at my easynet address. It's the usual rubbish -- viagra, penis enlargement, cheap loans, hot babes, Nigerian scams -- and I'm blacklisting as fast as I can, but it keeps on coming.

In other news, Bertie's had another prang. I'm not sure what happened, because he didn't "announce" it until a few hours after our visit to Beecraigs Country Park on Monday. It must have happened there, though. Anyway, I dressed it myself, but he kicked up a ruckus and claimed (through sign language) that his leg might actually be broken, so I took him to the vet. She thought it might be cracked, the leg bone that is. She shot him full of painkillers and antibiotics and put on a great big bandage. He shrieked and trembled and carried on, wouldn't let her shave around the wound, so I feared the worst. But the next day he was fine! Malingerer.

I went to see Whale Rider, a fantastic film -- it made me really homesick. Pinky and I had a great holiday once on the East Coast and it brought it all back. I thought the film conveyed the sweep of contemporary Maori culture there without spelling it out: the hard-case old kuia who run the show behind the scenes, the proud older men trying to keep the past alive, the dispossessed younger adults who've lost their way, the exiles "making it" in the wider world, and the kids, the hope of the future. Fab.

The weather continues to be scorching -- by Scottish standards at least, the temperature's up to 24 regularly! I'm really enjoying having my breakfast outdoors every morning, and wearing sandals. Last summer, by contrast, it rained almost every day. I think I only breakfasted outdoors once. Of course every few days the Calvinist haar comes down to remind us not to get too complacent, but in general it's fantastic. I've been harvesting my raspberry bushes, fresh fruit and yoghurt, mmm.

I see in Europe it's been so hot they've had to shut down the Matterhorn -- glacier melt is causing rockfalls. And there are thunderstorms threatening down south.