I’ve not been having too good a day today. I need to do Chris’ tax return for last year, so settled down to do it. It should only take a couple of half days normally. But as soon as I started to sort out the interest on investments I ran into trouble. It appears I’ve mistakenly deleted my Spreadsheet of savings and investments, so have lost my record of what we’ve had where at any given time. The only back up I have was last updated in 2008. So it took me ages sorting out accounts before I could start. At least now I’ve done all the investment stuff, so I’m only left with his earnings & expenses. I will have to recreate the spreadsheet at some point though, unless I can recover it. The one program I’ve tried so far couldn’t find it, but that’s not too surprising. Although I didn’t delete it very long ago, my hard drive is almost full and I’ve been moving loads of photos to and from my external hard drive.
Other than that the only thing I’ve done today is go to Wimborne. I needed to go to Waitrose food shopping, and wanted to have another go at getting some wellington boots. This time I was successful in my boot hunting expedition, and managed to get a pair of Hunter’s in the sale. They are really expensive, even in the sale, so I hope they’re all they’re cracked up to be. Meanwhile I got Chris a normal cheap pair (that was what he wanted).
After I’d finished writing my update yesterday I sat and watched the last part of The Bear Family and Me, which is a 3-part wildlife film by Gordon Buchanan, who does a lot of filming for BBC’s Springwatch and Autumnwatch. I always enjoy watching him: I remember last spring when he got so excited because he got to film some killer whales in the North Sea. This particular documentary is a film about black bears. He filmed it with the help of a bear researcher who, controversially, has discovered that if you approach the bears with food initially and talk to them, they will then ignore you when the food has gone and let you observe them. As a result he managed to get up close and film an amazing insight into the life of these much feared creatures.
I also finished reading Stardust by Neil Gaiman last night. He has an excellent writing style, making his books very readable, yet at the same time very well written (although I have to admit I find it impossible to read badly written books). I was surprised how different the book was to the film: in the film they had changed some parts (including the ending) and some characters, significantly.
Finally, I am pleased to see that Gabrielle Giffords, the US congresswoman shot in the head two days ago, is responding to treatment. I was fascinated to learn that they have removed half of her skull temporarily (i.e. not just for the operation) to counter any swelling of the brain. If she survives, then I suspect she has a long, hard recuperation ahead of her. Sadly, brain injuries can change people completely, and I see that in this case the bullet went through the parts of her brain governing speech. But the brain is an amazing thing, and can quickly re-route itself. I truly hope she can make a full recovery.
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