I couldn’t get out of work quick enough today, two weeks off woohoo! Dear husband has the time off too and we might be spending a few of our precious days off in NSW, catching up with a couple of friends. DH hasn’t committed to it yet so we may just as easily end up not going anywhere at all. That’s ok I have plenty of things for us to do around the house haha.

Some of the things I am likely to do on our holidays:

• study
• watch old Doctor Who episodes
• shop
• read books
• get my hair cut

Some of the things I’d like to accomplish during our holidays:

• finish painting the upstairs landing
• get rid of the prickles in the garden
• plant some trees and do a little landscaping
• use my beauty parlour gift voucher – maybe get a nice massage!

A sci-fi tale by David Brin. Set in a not too distant future where a new technology makes it possible for people to imprint themselves into clay “dittoes” (copies). The dittoes are like personal deputies who go off and uncomplainingly do all the things that the “rigs” (originals) don’t want to do – such as housework, a boring job, or risking life and limb. The ditto has a short 24 hour lifespan but memories of its experiences during this time are able to be “inloaded” to its rig, giving the person several lifetimes of accumulated memories.

The story revolves around Al, a clever detective who has been hired to find the missing lead scientist from United Kil’n, the company that first developed the clay dittoes. Along the way it deals with the implications of Kil’n technology on many different levels – the social, philosophical, moral and physical. Narrating in first person and as each of Al’s several duplicates at the same time would seem to be a near impossible task but Brin rises to the challenge, and uses it skilfully as a device to speed up the pace of this page turning thriller.

Thoroughly enjoyed this, very cleverly written and even the regular use of puns (ditective/detective) was a good touch which added to the entertaining tone of the story.

A call from my dear husband the other day asking if I would feel comfortable lending my car to Joel, 17 year old son of a good friend and colleague, to use in his driving exam. The car Joel had originally intended to use had developed some mechanical problem, so with DH’s assurances I agreed.

Poor Joel didn’t get off to a good start. His appointment was set before the motor registry office opened, and he had instructions to knock on the door and ask for the instructor. The door was answered by a gruff, middle-aged gentleman who clearly didn’t appreciate being summoned there. He was in the process of telling Joel to clear off when he happened to look up and notice the two police officers who had accompanied Joel to the door (DH and his colleague, Joel’s mum). From then he was all sweetness and Joel was ushered through!

Next came a basic check of the car to ensure everything was in working order. A brief moment of panic when it was discovered the windscreen washer on my car wasn’t squirting water. Apparently this is a big no no, a bookable defect. Turns out it was easily fixed – the hose had simply fallen out and once reinserted it worked fine. To my shame, it had been like this for at least two years – I had always been meaning to look at it … but never got around to it. Regular car maintenance was never one of my strong suits.

Fearing the gruff gentleman was to be his instructor, Joel was most relieved when it turned out to be a nice middle-aged English lady instead. Apparently Joel is a bit of a charmer and despite one or two minor goofs (which would normally have cost the exam his instructor revealed) he made it through.

Since earning his licence last week, and with the other car back on the road, very little has been seen of Joel at home apparently! What a nice boy though, he gave me a box of chocolates to thank me for the use of my car. It is also a bonus to get it back in better working condition than it was before I’d lent it!