G and T

I haven't been hitting the bottle; I'm talking about give and take (here we go). I used to joke with a mate of mine that in life, people give with one hand while taking with the other - there is a biblical reference there I'm sure, but it's all hokum, so let's ignore it. This has just happened to me.

Finally, we collected our new camcorder from the Parcelforce depot. The moment was even finer for having been postponed for so long by their ineptitude ("yeah well, driver couldn't find your address"). The asking price for the camera is easily justified by the happiness its gadgetry instils in me. What a bloody brilliant thing it is. I am hoping to use it to make some movies (like these that I did with my digicam), to possibly film some commuting moments and general geeky bike-ness. That was the give.

I am, of course, exaggerating about the take, which has two elements. I have got full-length mudguards on one of my bikes. They are black, and they not only have a mud-flap, but also a charming reflector. Now, where did I leave my street-cred? I'm not really bothered; it adds an entertaining further killer clause to the old situation: "Oh, did I just overtake you, city-boy (on your £2k full-carbon race bike)? Did you see that my bike is steel, low-budget and fixed-wheel? And that I have a 15kg courier bag on? And that I have already done 50 miles in town today? And that my bike has full mudguards?"

Other much more serious thing is that I can't seem to be able to write at the moment. I sit and stare at the computer. It's not even new material, but an edit of previously-reviewed stuff! I've had that feeling that my brain just isn't quite good enough too often recently. Time for more office-hours and more coffee I think.