Anyway, up almost two hours after the alarm to head out to breakfast and back. I have my guitar lesson at ten-thirty, so we'll scribble here, tune the guitar and make a quick run through the lesson before heading into the overcast on this at the edge of, but not quite raining, morning. Are we ready? Are we ever really ready? Yes? No? Hard to say.

Later. Rain, but a parking space near the house, so a comfortable wait in the car with the engine, radio and heater running until it was time to ramble. A good lesson. I wasn't so great, but a good time was had by all and I'm looking forward to going through the new chords later this afternoon.

A drive by the supermarket on the way home, thinking best to do it now as it was going to be crowded, but not as crowded as it was going to be over the weekend when one and all are off work (and looking to do some holiday cooking). Picked up some of the usual stuff, although they were out of the small bottles of dry Ozeki sake. I thought, well, it's Christmas and considered buying a fifth of Jack Daniels, but fortunately they were out of the fifths and I left empty handed. Christmas Eve sitting here with a full size bottle of whiskey is playing with fire, even for one so sober-sided and careful as I. (Would I lie?)

Back now, still raining, we'll check the news on the various public television stations. Maybe fire up the stereo system and see if I can still do an afternoon with music in the background while, well, playing the guitar.

You really think you're going to get in any practice this afternoon?

I might, but trickery would be involved.

Later still. There were still some recent images that weren't accessible on the web sites, although I think I've gotten them all straightened out this time around. Still, again, the backup system is now in place to make sure this won't happen again unless the building should burn down and I'll have taken care of even that by the end of the month. Hup! Can't do much, of course, if I burn down with the building, but then I suspect at that point backups would be the least of my problems.

I did briefly stick the nose out the door and indeed headed as far as Grand, but turned around as I was standing waiting on the light to cross to the lake, when I realized how close it was to raining again, raining hard, and how deserted (including the birds) it was. And I wasn't hungry. So we're back at the apartment.

Evening. A broken guitar string. I'd let it go too long anyway, so the guitar has been restrung and the batteries recharged and now we'll see if I use this as an excuse to say I've done my guitar for the day.

A Wallandar at six. Yes I played along on the guitar, as you have to sit and watch to read the subtitles, this being one I hadn't seen before. I'm not sure how many versions, how many Wallandars there are out there. This one is the Swedish one, there's another more recent British one starring Kenneth Branagh and there have been full length movies made with other actors in the leading roll.

And this is leading where?

Maybe I don't much cotton to the character. I like Branagh a lot, but I'm not sure I like his Wallandar, not because he doesn't do it well, but because he does it too well. The Swedish one playing this evening is palatable enough as I find some interest in the secondary roles, what that says about me I don't know. Well, we watched, we played a bit, we stuck around afterward for a while and then we went to bed.