I got woken up yesterday morning with some awful news - one of our friends has just died very suddenly and very tragically. Bronwyn is really upset, and so is Rachael. I've been in touch with them whenever I can, but it feels such a distance right now.

I went to a funeral up in Coventry yesterday, quite by coincidence, and it wasn't easy even though I barely knew the person. It was the father of an old friend, and when I saw my friend crying it set me off too. But it was good to catch up with some of the others there, and I dropped in on my old neighbours afterwards, just on the off-chance. Did some shopping, wandered around the city centre, and had dinner with another friend, then went home rather exhausted.

Had a quiet week last week, caught up with work and did a couple of odd jobs for Mum. She's still living with her dad. Granddad is now 104, and the doctors want to fit him with a pacemaker. They reckon he's got another 10 years! He looks remarkably well for that age, and can shuffle around unaided, although his memory has gone and he spends most of the time asleep.

Had a great time at my brothers too. Nick shaved off his beard for the occasion (he's my twin) so he'd look the same as me, but nobody fell for it. We're not as identical as we used to be. Daniel showed off his computer games that he's been writing (he's only 13) but I fear I don't have the millisecond accuracy required to get much past the first few levels. He's incredibly fast thinking. Esther (who's 11) is more into bird watching and tree climbing. We went for a walk through the woods, and kept on losing her whenever she sprinted for another tree.

Another day of relative peace, then off to the isle of Wight. I've been made to promise to return to Coventry on the Sunday after that, but I'm reserving the Saturday for Mum, since her list of odd jobs is growing...

I've been guided around my travels by my mother's new satnav. It got me lost in Chelmsford twice (Hmm. I've seen that bridge before...) and took me on a couple of rather awkward short cuts, but generally it was fine. It makes me jump when I'm driving along the motorway for miles, and it suddenly says "aHEAD, Take The Exit!". Rather loud. Apparently you can get other language files according to Nick, such as Dalek and Yoda. Might download Yoda just to try it out.

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