number of hours: 24

number of screw-ups: many, many more.....

- have killed every bird that came in, except the one I only picked up at 19h00 tonight. Hey, give that one time, and I'm sure it could just lay down and die on me too.

- good bit for the day: taking my niece for her belated birthday present. We went to one of the fancy day spas, where she had a teen manicure, pedicure and back/shoulder massage. I had a hot stone massage, pedicure and a salt exfoliation. We were only 20 mins late for the appointment - entirely my fault. For a change. To compensate, I got suckered into buying products, almost twice as much as the two packages cost. Even though I know the masseuse was lying when she said the only bad bit of my body was my stomach and that she had a miracle cream that would shrink my fat belly even as I applied it. And that the exfoliating cream would make my revolting feet absolutely sexy. Right. A carving knife for the fat roll, and something to shrink my feet by a third while reshaping all my crooked toes - a) I am uncoordinated and kick things, and b)I played goalkeeper in school hockey, so my broken toe count is somewhere between 26 and 29 - and simultaneously removing the hard and cracked bits caused by walking barefoot all year round? Don't think a couple of hideously expensive creams can do any of that, no matter what seaweed stuff they contain. Niece loved it though, so it was worthwhile.

other good bit, from last night. Local band 'Dog Detachment', from '80s, singing 'Waiting (for a Miracle). Available from One World . Superb.... Buy the album. Now. It's really cheap when you convert the ZAR price to $$. Listen to the sample at SA Rock Digest. Buy an extra copy for someone you like, which will encourage more re-releases of good and old stuff.

not even going to detail the stuff-ups. Just too many....