As my regular shopping chums are off enjoying themselves in Ubud I got the old shopping jeep out yesterday morning and set off up to Smith Street. The supermarket there is like an old shoe, comfortable for occasional use but looking very shabby; at least the bottle shop there has the Morris' Durif, which the one at Vic Gardens doesn't.

In the afternoon KP came around again for duetting and we worked our way through a Beethoven string quartet arrangement and one by Brahms, as well as a fleeting look at the Ravel Rhapodie espagnole - beautiful, but very difficult.

Then last night, Tat and I went to the Wilkes/Summerbell joint celebration - we ended up singing a topical catch written for the occasion by RP, which was well received getting laughs I wasn't aware were there.

To Mum's as usual this morning. After lunch I introduced her to the mysteries of the new Sudoku puzzles appearing in The Age (and almost everywhere else). Stopped off at Vic Gardens on my way home seeking quinces, but settled for ice-cream. DG is coming to dinner tonight.

On my way home I got a call from work to say that Sydney operations have had a severe meltdown: JW went home early and I recommended that LJ be called and asked to come in a bit later. One of the major drawbacks of centralised systems - Sydney goes down and we all suffer. The last I heard they were hoping for a return to service around 5pm.