Rats! Thwarted again!

The plan was flawless: walk to the university to practise in the music department, thus killing several birds with one stone. I would be getting exercise, I would feel obligated to do more than a cursory warm-up, I would NOT be wasting my time on the internet, and I could enjoy the beauties of a rainless summer day. Alas, when I arrived at the quad, having taken my usual shortcut through the science building basement, my eyes were greeted by a crowd of very small children, chattering gaily in French, and the banner strung across the music department portico confirmed what my senses had already told me, the music camp was on. There would be no practising for me in the facility.

So I wandered over to the slide library, where thankfully the slide librarian was working in her air-conditioned office. We visited for perhaps 20 minutes, she telling me about her half-a-horse (meaning she is half-owner of the horse but visits it everyday and rides as often as possible) and I told her about my dear friend zitagsd having to give up the guide-dog pup she was raising. She was very sympathetic, but agreed that it was a noble act. After all, it�s as though the dog is going to boarding school and then entering the workplace. Linda will always be her �mommy� and can visit her at any time.

The replacement espresso maker arrived last Thursday, exactly two weeks after I made the call and not the three they had promised, and already it is proving to be a better machine than the other. The coffee is hotter, it doesn�t leak all over the counter, and the extraction is more potent, meaning Hubby can cut down on the amount of ground coffee he has been using. I am so grateful to my friends in Montreal for informing us of this recall. It has proven the best thing that could have happened on the steamed-milk front.

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