These arrived for me earlier in the week, but I had been unable to collect them until today. One is mine, the other is for my sister. I know what I'll be listening to this evening. :)

It's been a fairly steady week — work is busy but not unbearable. The recent mild, spring-like weather has been replaced by something more grey and damp. And the hot water in my flat is being temperamental again, as I discovered this morning when I took a shower that was somewhat cooler than I would have liked. Not much else to report.

I'm currently reading a book called Ask The Pilot, a compilation of articles which originally appeared in a web-based Q&A column of the same name. The man behind the column, Patrick Smith - pilot, writer and A.net forum regular, answers all manner of reader-submitted questions from the mundane, technical ones to the more unusual (e.g. "Have you ever flown naked?"). I'm sure most people have an interesting tale or two to tell after a couple of decades in virtually any occupation, but after years of circling the globe, Patrick probably has more than most. One such anecdote, which has proven quite popular on the Internet, involves a younger Mr Smith, a toilet and 50,000lbs of pineapples. I wouldn't normally recommend his articles to anyone with no interest in aviation as they are likely to be quite dull, but this one is humorous, well-told and is definitely worth a read if you have 5 minutes to spare.

By popular request. Sort of. :)

They're in full bloom now. Sadly the patch of grass they call home is managed by the council who arrive around this time each year to mow it - along with anything else that happens to be growing there. Still, at least this one will live on in the Wired for a while longer, even if its corporeal self ends up being mulched in the next week or two.

While I was walking to work last week, I took note of the barren trees and the autumn leaf litter piled up by the side of the road; it all seemed very wintery still for mid-March and I wondered when the fresh green shoots of spring would start to show themselves.

Imagine my surprise when this display greeted me on the same walk this morning. Apparently the mild and sunny weather over the weekend was all that was needed to set things in motion. The daffodils further along the verge were also in full bloom, but I won't bore you with a full gallery of road-side flora.

The clocks go forward in under two weeks (one less hour of sleep >_<) so the evenings will soon become much lighter. It's been a bitterly cold winter at times so I'm not that sad to see the back of it. Hopefully this summer isn't going to swing the temperature too far in the other direction though. It would be nice if the weather stayed the way it is right now for a little while - clear, fresh, not too hot or too cold and very much alive.

Or so the magical website told me. I'm not sure quite how accurate it is, but it's mildly interesting to see oneself reduced to a few charts and figures.

I've been tinkering with the site today and have implemented a feature request - comments - to make my blog a little more like most of the other blogs out there. Feel free to give them a go and let me know if you encounter any issues. If you want to respond to anything in a less public manner, the contact form is still there.

I've also finished going through the photos I took while out and about at the London Chinese New Year event last month. You'll find a selection of photos and a video on the Stuff page.