1. It seems I am still not totally over my cold, or more specifically, not at all over hyperimmune response by body seems to have these days practically every time a bacteria even looks sideways at me. Over it. Totally.

2. Because I am still asthmatic, covered in hives, unable to shave and have mucus running from every orifice, including one or two I didn't even know were capable of producing it, I have had to pull out of a swimming competition I was registered for tomorrow. I'm somewhat disappointed as this was going to be my final (and actually only) preparation for Montreal. On the plus side, my appetite has also been in the toilet, so I have lost a stack of weight. The trick now will be to keep it off for the next three weeks. Note to self: Laxatives.

3. I have realized this week just how anti-social you become when you spend a few days in a row programming (as in writing computer code). Most of this week I spent reworking one of our main databases, cleaning it up, building in some new functions to make things smoother and faster and less error-prone. But after sitting in my office for hours on end, thinking in the mindset of computer code, it is actually really hard to talk or interact with a real live human being. Today I could barely even form words when my student or coworkers worked up the courage to enter my lair and presented me with results, before bowing and exiting without making eye contact (you have no idea how long it's taken me to train them). I guess this is why computer scientists and full-time programmers are usually so socially retarded. Once you start thinking in computer code, regular communication just seems so strange and pointless. Tonight I have already not returned two phone calls (sorry Jasper) because I just don't think I could hold a conversation with another person - my mind is still thinking about functions and insert statements and error checking. Possibly the nerdiest sentence I've ever written.

4. So it seems my father has found this website (see the Comments). If you listen very, very carefully I think you might just be able to hear the sound my name being scratched off the Will - I think I was down to the spare change in the ashtray of the car anyway. No idea how he stumbled on this - I've used such a discreet URL.

5. Tomorrow, hopefully out of my programming-induced social-coma, I have been invited to go boating with Martin & Martijn (and Binck, I assume) which will be delightful. The weather is expected to be in the high 20s, so I am forecasting that we will all drink our body weight in Rose wine and crash the boat several times. Jasper is in, of course, so you can all come back next week and check him out in my photos. I'm sure is the true purpose of 90% of visits to this site. Perverts. Not sure if Barry has been invited; he may be too busy adding up all the money he didn't spend renovating his new apartment by taking advantage of his longsuffering friends.

6. I have almost a full beard at the moment. It's really scratchy and makes me look homeless. So considering keeping it and just skipping the next 20 years of my life.

7. This week, instead of washing clothes, cooking decent food or interacting with real people, I have repartitioned my hard drive and installed Ubuntu (Linux) as a second OS. Was a bit tricky getting the widescreen resolution working and also I had to reconfigure my Airport, but it's all working now. So far it just kind of seems like Windows XP, just without the Microsoft logos. At least I have the option there if I ever decide to boycott Microsoft and purge all their filthy wares from my life.

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