I can’t be ill now, I just can’t! I was going to be a Mysterious Person Sitting in the Corner at Miranda’s birthday party tomorrow!! However, M and I agreed that a Mysterious Person Sneezing in the Corner is not likely to be very Mysterious at all, so there will have to be a substitute. Waaah. I don’t want to miss my own niece’s first real hobbit party…

I am making some progress with my paper though. I think. CdM gave me some useful advice for which I am eternally grateful, and Merja is happy, so I suppose I should be too. I’ll send her the version with the Really Cool 3D Graphic today And then I’ll GET RID OF THIS COLD so I won’t have to let Terry present my paper in Helsinki…. that would be an anticlimax. I mean, it might not be wonderful or even particularly good or in any way useful, but it’s my useless paper, dagnabbit.

Also, we have almost bought a new stereo system! On Wednesday we went a-listening to various machines with ridiculous price labels tagged to them (or not tagged to them, as a matter of fact - they were that expensive) and then to some that were within economic reach, and found to our relief that we didn’t really hear any difference to speak of. We’re still not quite sure about the loudspeakers, so will listen more on Monday, but otherwise we know what we want, and we will get it.