Cutting through the gloom

The morning is spent at Claire’s desk, bright sunlight streaming in, the sea receding to reveal the sand. Claire is in Glenrothes at an in-service day.

Monday sees me in a coffee shop opposite Tesco at Canonmills, whiling away the time until my root canal appointment, laptop open, head engaged.

An hour of drilling, prodding, poking, filling follows. The dentist uses something like a balloon, stretched over a metal frame, to isolate the tooth he’s working on. I keep my eyes firmly shut the whole time.

Not wanting to waste the visit to town, I also have an appointment with a podiatrist. It appears that my motorcycle accident years ago has had some longer term effects. Something to do with a “windlass effect”?

Home, and I’m feeling a bit drained. I light the fire, eat some oatcakes and fruit. Then, a tap at the door reminds me that Wilma is coming round to talk SQL. I’m not able to help much - the software she’s using is making it impossible to get at the data. Maybe she’ll have to keep compiling that report by hand ;(

I get to Day 4 of The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. It’s a weird book, but strangely compelling.