Just got home from a totally unproductive day trip to Manchester!  The good news - apart from 20 mins to get through Alderly it was a good run run each way.

Who hides all the books in libraries, that's what I want to know - they put on all these fancy electronic tags and install fancy databases but the list of a dozen or so books you've come to look at, which are all listed as 'available' are invisible.  And you are are not alone, a twenty-something undergrad (obviously of the keen variety, it's not term time) was speaking to the library assistant about her list of invisible books too.

"Blue 4 is a silent study zone" it said on the door - i.e. death to students who talk!  So I entered to find the two library staff chatting loudly as they shared holiday photos, and as I 'womanfully' laboured to persuade the keyword search to find anything I could use (it is not very good at 'fuzzy matching' let alone wild cards), a whole group of chatting folk sauntered through.  Obviously in post-modernity silent does not mean silent anymore, silly me.

Decided to pop into Blackwell's university book shop.  Great collection of Mr Men/Little Miss books, but nothing on theology or historiography, let alone congregational studies.  Is it too late to switch my field of research...? ;-)

Drove past my old flat which had scaffolding outside - finally the roof is being repaired!  It is now used as offices, and the whole area has changed dramatically from 8 years ago when I moved there.

So, back home, back to Amazon and Google - at least in the quiet of my little office in my little damp house I have only myself to get ratty with.