How much ...

... is that doggie in the window?

After yesterday's neighbourly drama, today saw things return to more to normal.

1.
The car's been suffering from a slow puncture for a while now, and I've kept putting off getting the new tyre which the guy in the garage told me I needed. It's booked in for its NCT on Tuesday, which is the spur which finally forced me to sort things out. As well as the new tyre, I got oil and water levels checked, new oil filter fitted, headlights focused, wheel alignment checked. (The blip happened on the way back to pick up the car after lunch.)

2.
On the work front, I got client approval for more of the annual report I'm working on (up at 7.00 am, and worked on that until 2-ish, at which point I had to meet the printer to vet a proof of the cover).

3.
Despite the drop in temperature and increasing levels of cloud during the day, I went ahead with the plan I'd had to abandon yesterday and got the DART out to Howth (spotted this bit of graffiti profundity at a stop along the way), and spent a pleasant few hours walking around, blipping, and enjoying a quite pleasant meal in Deep restaurant.

4.
Back home I jumped straight in to photo sorting and almost forgot the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest, which I then joined too late to see Niamh Kavanagh sing for Ireland. The songs I did catch were universally abysmal, but I just had to hang on for the result of the voting. Thankfully Niamh won through and will sing in the Final (the first time in years we've made it to that stage). Once again I marvel at the unfairness of the rule which reserves automatic places for France, Germany, Spain and the UK, no matter how badly they've done the previous year - it doesn't seem at all right to me. (No word of anyone throwing a Eurovision party this year. Shame.)