Went to Brighton with the gf and her parents. Very bright, cold day, with a visit to the Royal Pavilion (fantastically, wonderfully over the top), a wander around the town's Lanes district and brief sojourn along the pebbly beach. Took quite a lot of photos; the light was really good and I was playing with my new lens.

My folks are currently on a long holiday in distant climes. Unfortunately when they were away, the cold water tank in their loft overflowed and went through to the bedroom below and the lounge below that, as my sister discovered last weekend. I don't think there's any structural damage, but the carpeting is completely ruined, as are a couple of pieces of furniture.
I am picking them up from the airport at 6.30 am on Monday morning after a long overnight flight. I'll be sitting them down with a cup of tea, and then asking them to phone my sister (who has all the details).The parents can get very stressed and emotional, and I'm really not sure how they'll react. I've inherited their talent for worrying - and I'm really starting to worry about consoling them or stopping them from driving when tired and upset.  <sigh>

Work: am feeling incompetent. Every so often I make progress but the speed is glacial, especially compared to one of my new colleagues who is relatively experienced and has a lot of talent for stubbornly working his way through a problem. I tend to give up much more easily. Meh.

Approximate recollection of a conversation at work:

Colleague:    We always win against Arsenal, though.
Me:        Is this like your theory that you always lose when you're on the telly?
Colleague:    Yeah, that's true as well.
Me:        What happens when you play Arsenal at the same time you're being filmed? Does the universe cease to exist?

I can't remember what he said next, but I'm pretty sure it was funny.

Poll: perhaps only for people working in Canary Wharf. This article might go some way to explaining what I'm referring to.