I just found a 'Learn German' thing on CD that I bought ten years ago and never used. So I've put it on my walkman to see if I am more scholarly than a decade ago. I've always wanted to know German but that's not the same as wanting to learn it.
Today I will go to see the doctor with vague complaints about annoying symptoms he can do little about without making other things worse. I live in hope. Perhaps one day a doctor will say "Oh! It's obviously X. Take this pill once and it will go away and you will feel fine and normal forever." (It could happen. It happened to a friend of mine. Ten years of being told she was nuts and then they worked out she had undiagnosed diabetes and brain tumour, which they removed and now she's fine.)
I think I have worked out what I was doing wrong with the shower... the gas thingy doesn't like it when I move the shower dial from 'super hot' to 'warm' and responds by shutting off the gas, which of course moves the temperature automatically to 'rather cold'. So it appears I have a choice of boiling or chilled water, delivered in a scalding dribble or semi-enthusiastic spray. Luckily I have learnt to shower in 60 seconds flat!
The hens are awesome. I really like chickens. I have never eaten so many eggs in my life. But the bit I like most about chickens is when they run they look like people running with their hands tied behind their backs, and that is just inherently amusing.