Under the weather

 

One by one my colleagues have been dropping like flies and now its my turn :-( :-(  I've been coughing and sneezing the whole day. Not a good start for the weekend.

Spring has arrived, but the tail end of winter is still with us. Wintry showers are forecast for tomorrow. I think I'm just going to burrow myself under the duvet with a hot water bottle, paracetamol, cough syrup and lots of hugs...

Anyway, the Big Garden Birdwatch results are out. And for the first time in the survey's 30-year history, the fluffy and adorable long-tailed tit has flown into the top ten. The 2009 pole position looks like this: (1) house sparrow (2) starling (3) blackbird (4) blue tit (5) chaffinch (6) woodpigeon (7) collared dove (8) great tit (9) robin (10) long-tailed tit.

But the highlight for today was when I spotted this beautiful siskin feeding. I need some fresh air to get rid of this stuffed feeling and I'm glad I did. I just stood there observing them, hanging upside down feeding on the pine seeds. They really brightened up my day.

Did you watch Channel 5's new show The Mentalist last night? It was basically about a former celebrity (fake) psychic who worked with the CBI as an independent consultant. He used his razor sharp skills of observation to solve crimes.

I'm still 50/50 whether I'll be a follower but one thing's for sure, Simon Baker's looks pretty good (in a manly kind of way). The Aussie hunk (he got that blonde surfer look) was voted as TV Guide magazine's sexiest man. Way to go Patrick Jane (his tv character). 

On Tuesday was the debut of Lawrence Fishburne as the new face of CSI, the only TV programme that I'm hooked on. Fishburne, as Professor Ray Langstone will be replacing Grissom. Will this crime hit series survive without Grissom, Sara and Warrick? Only time will tell.

I've volunteered at work to become a mystery caller like a mystery shopper. This is one of the benchmarks used by libraries to improve customer service. It's either that or as a mystery user. I can't be the later cos they would have recognised me. The academic library world is very small.

I think I must have performed well cos I was asked to do another mystery call to another library next month. I wonder which one?

What do you think of Daniel Hannan's speech? The Conservative MEP for South East England, made a scathing speech in the Euro parliament - delivered to Gordon Brown - which became a surprise hit on the Internet.

The speech didn't get any attention in the British media until it became a viral hit via YouTube. It was a  fantastic speech. Not a fan of the Tories but well said, Hannan. Watch out Cameron. And I wouldn't want to be in the PM's shoes...

Anyway, I'm off to bed to recover from whatever I've caught. Have a lovely weekend and stay warm.

For CEK, sorry about Smotyn...