Of course what I didn't mention in the waffle about American Beauty was how good the music was. Both the songs chosen for inclusion and the original score (which is being used either on radio or tv a lot at the moment but I can't think what for). Really good stuff and added a whole extra dimension to the experience.

So, yesterday we had an unexpected office bonus as Sonic was on a flexi day but hadn't told us. Always nice to not have him breathing down our necks - I know I got more stuff done than I would have done otherwise. Then in the evening we watched the third Austin Powers film Goldmember. Just as funny as the first two, although the series seems to be moving away from plots and more in to the realm of linked parody sketches of the Bond films. And there are some serious product placement issues that could use sorting out a bit if they decide to make a third.

Today I have been out and about delivering again. I think I have finally got to all the places that should have been delivered to for this edition (about a week before I start proper work on the next one...) and found a few more new ones too. Not as many today as before though. However, I was in the Haverhill area and I am hoping to get a load of pubs round there to take books through an arrangement I am working on with Greene King. I just wish the other two brewer/pub chain people I've written to would respond. I'll give them until we get the next edition then just start going to their pubs without help otherwise. All of which has left me pretty tired tonight. Joan is out getting aromatherapised so I am just going to relax with my book until she calls for her ride home.

Thoroughly enjoying the Brunel book as it is taking a different perspective on his life. Rather than being a straight biography it tackles different topics he worked on (rail, ships, bridges etc) and then does a bit of analysis and commentary on how they fitted in with the spirit of the age etc. Which is a period I have been interested in for a while, depsite having studied it at A level history. And unlike the rest of my class when we were asked to give a biographical presentation on a leading figure from the period we were covering I chose Thomas Telford, man behind many roads and canals, rather than a politician which gained me a few points for originality as well as being more interesting.

The roads today have been swarming with Caravans. The Caravan Club is holding a festival of lanterns (!) at the Suffolk Showground this weekend and people must be coming from all over - there are thousands of little cream sheds on wheels visible from the road. To my mind there are two types of caravaners - those who use it as a cheap way of sleeping somewhere they have control over on holiday, a base to visit new places. And those who are in it for the caravans themselves. I think it is mainly the latter camped on the edge of Ipswich at the moment. All busy queueing for the showers and swapping tales of chemical toilets and awnings. Not my cup of tea at all. The only caravans I've slept in were a static one in Wales on a geology field trip (static caravans, there's a mystery in itself. Why have a mobile home then never move it?) and the one belonging to Ernie's next door neighbours when we all went up for a funeral a couple of years ago and thus made too many to all fit in the house. Neiher of those experiences has made me want to repeat the situation.