By 11am this morning I was on the train to Solihull, and it promised to be another scorching day, which it was. Summered out to-the-max I was brandishing all the usual kit for my trip; the software upgrade, my iPod and my camera. This time I also took along my A4 notebook, as I thought the train might be a good place to unload my brain onto paper.

It took about an hour to sort out the stuff at Le Scarpe and then I was free to do what I please. This is one of the great things about my lines of business; and that is I don't have to be too concerned about when I do the work as most people fit around me. For example I was allowed to turn up at any point during office hours, and this meant I was afforded the luxury of being indoors for the hottest part of the day, then free to browse the city at my own leisure. I didn't hang about in Solihull for long. Although the place is nice and the standard of girls is higher than most other places in the West Midlands, I was lured away by the big buildings and the call of a Subway in Brum.

I had been pleasantly surprised my return ticket had cost me just under three quid on the Young Persons Railcard. I swear the cost changes every few minutes, but I'm not complaining. Last time I travelled I think it cost me at least four. However, my luck was about to change on the money front, and after pointing out to the lady in the card shop that she had overcharged me by two pounds on a four pound purchase, I was eventually caught out in Subway where I was too concerned about whether they had diluted the Tango this time around to realise they had conned me out of two quid there. Clearly the world was conspiring against me following my initial success at Stourbridge Junction ticket office.

I nosed around central Birmingham for a while - Waterstones, Victoria Square, New Street, The Bull Ring - all the usual haunts and eventually made my way back to Moor Street where I basked in the UV until my train came in. I gave the parents a call when I arrived back in order to arrange some transport back from the station, but failed to get through and decided to walk, which wasn't such a bad idea anyway. It was at this point that I remembered that I had forgotten to ask about the iPod replacement thing at the Apple store. In fact I had forgotten about the Apple store all together. Damn. My poor old pod is now only pumping out less than four hours of music before slipping away into it's I Refuse To Work state. Rubbish.

Other projects went on hold today, but will be resumed tomorrow. During this time I also have to locate a stockist of a safari suit or something similar as Jon's party is scarily close. Hmmm. I also need to bleach my hair again.